Fitch Ratings forecast Tunisia’s government financing needs to reach 16.4% of GDP and 16.8% of GDP in 2022 and 2023, respectively, pushed up by the large additional spending to absorb the shock from the war in Ukraine and external debt maturities of USD1.4 billion and USD2.0 billion, respectively.
Fitch quoted the authorities as reporting that about USD1.3 billion financing from Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and Afreximbank are at the final negotiations stage, which together with the first IMF instalment would close the funding gap for 2022.
It added that Tunisia is negotiating another USD1.8 billion financing, mostly from the GCC, which on top of planned disbursements from the IMF, multilateral and western bilateral creditors (around USD2.4 billion) – unlocked with the IMF agreement – and domestic market funding would cover budget and external funding needs in 2023.
