“The European Union (EU) released 55 million Euros, nearly 110 million dinars (MTD), in donation as part of its new Economic Recovery Program (ERP) in Tunisia, to support the assistance measures of the country’s transition process,” the European Delegation in Tunis announced in a statement.
This program targets economic growth, reduction of inequalities and improvement of governance.
Signed last September, ERP, which was devised in the very few weeks after the January 14 Revolution, is endowed with a total budget worth 100 million Euros, about 200 MTD, as a direct back-up to the State budget, to help Tunisia carry out short-term actions and more structural reforms during the transition period.
ERP mobilizes several international players, namely the European Union, the World Bank, the African Development Bank and the French Development Agency, allowing a total financial contribution worth one billion Euros.
EU will contribute with donations and loans.
The program consists in speeding up as much as possible the recovery process of economic growth. The amounts mobilized by EU and the other donors, actually devoted to finance part of the rising State deficit, to help it increase public spending in order to support economic activity.
Besides, the program will directly contribute to reduce inequalities thanks to a re-adjustment of public interventions in favor of the underprivileged regions and social classes.
It will also help restore infrastructure damaged following the January 2011 events.
In the social field, the program provides for establishing financial assistance and training for the benefit of jobless university graduates, as part of the Tunisian Job Active Search Program (AMAL) which has already benefited to 130,000 youths.
It also backs up the improvement of assistance programs for the needy families and reinforcement of basic public services, particularly basic health ones.
The European Union backs up, through ERP, improvement of public administration’s governance and plans actions in the public procurement field, customs and fiscal administration, to improve transparency, efficiency and equity.
