Local banks have once again come to the rescue of the state budget, by raising estimated 400 million dinars (MD) in foreign currency through a syndicated loan agreement. Only 12 local banks, whose names were not disclosed by the Ministry of Finance, signed the agreement.
This loan is part of the financing of the state budget, in accordance with the provisions of the 2023 Finance Law, which provides for raising external and domestic borrowing, estimated at 14.8 billion dinars and 9.5 billion dinars respectively, to finance the budget deficit (almost 7.5 billion dinars) and to repay the principal of external (9.1 billion dinars) and domestic (6.6 billion dinars) debt.
The outstanding public debt increased by 10% until end February 2023, compared to the same period last year, reaching 117.1 billion dinars, according to data recently published by the Ministry of Finance.
The domestic debt represents 43.3% of the total outstanding debt, while the external debt accounts for 56.7%.
