The United States finalized a 100-million-dollar cash transfer agreement with Tunisia.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton signed the agreement with Tunisian ambassador Mohamed Salah Tekaya on Thursday.
“This transfer is only one of many valuable commitments we are making to the people and new Government of Tunisia,” Clinton said at a news briefing, alongside the ambassador.
State Department Spokesperson Victoria Nuland told reporters at a news briefing on Thursday that the Obama administration and Congress have worked hard to help Tunisia “bridge this period when it has a newly elected government, when it has also a lot of folks unemployed and it needs to show the benefit of a newly democratizing system.”
“We will be finalizing a sovereign loan guarantee agreement fully backed by the United States, which will provide several hundreds of millions of dollars more in financing for the Tunisian Government,” Clinton pledged.
The US Secretary of State also said the U.S. is working with Tunisia to shape the country’s new institutions to ensure core principles of human rights, transparency and accountability are part of this transformation.
Tunisia’s ambassador Tekaya said the Clinton’s signature on the Memorandum of Acknowledgement of the cash transfer supports the country’s stability at a critical stage in its transition to democracy.
