The ARP’s Finance and Budget Committee met on Wednesday to hear the Finance Minister’s views on a draft law authorizing the State to subscribe to the capital of the Tunisian Saudi Bank.
Among the questions raised were those relating to the state’s strategy in the banking sector and the programs for radical reform of the mixed banks that are experiencing difficulties.
MPs asked about the reasons for the Tunisia-Saudi Bank’s insolvency and the extent to which the planned recapitalization would help to bring the bank out of the crisis or whether another capital increase would be proposed.
They asked about the impact of this financing on the bank’s solvency and why the option of placing the bank under the supervision of the Commission for the Resolution of Banks and Financial Institutions in a Compromised Situation had not been used.
They also asked for clarification on the reasons for the deterioration of the bank’s situation and on the level of control and accountability of those responsible.
They also questioned the priority of the State’s commitment to inject 50 million dinars from the State budget into the Bank at this critical time.
They reiterated their request for precise data on the reasons for the deterioration of the bank’s situation and the results of the full audit. Some MPs argued that saving the bank was not a priority and that the money should be used to revive the economy.
In her response, the Minister of Finance pointed out that the Banking Law of 2016 had given full autonomy to banking institutions, explaining that public or publicly owned banks were under the supervision of the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank.
Not able to compete
She pointed out that the mixed banks face a number of problems, as they were initially development banks within the framework of bilateral cooperation and the development of relations in sectors and projects of common interest, and were transformed from development banks to universal banks by the revision of the Banking Law in 2001.
She stressed that they are not in a position to compete due to their small size and the inefficiency of their governance system, in addition to the discovery of numerous organizational and management failures.
The Finance Minister recalled the Cabinet meeting held in 2018 on the reform of certain public banks, in which Tunisia’s contribution did not exceed 50%, and the tendency at the time was to abandon these banks.
She added that the issue of mixed banks was presented to the government, where it was the subject of Cabinet meetings in 2022, and in the last of them, held in 2023, it was decided to maintain the state’s participation in these banks within the general guidelines of the state’s policy to preserve public companies.
She also pointed out that the Ministry of Finance had been asked to study the possible formula for finding a solution for these banks and the formation of a steering committee at the level of the Prime Ministry and the appointment of a bureau of experts to carry out an in-depth audit and propose solutions, noting that these measures would apply to all the banks involved, as they were in the same situation.
