The Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) extended a new Ordinary Loan to the Republic of Tunisia, with the amount of Arab Accounting Dinar 19.175 million, the equivalent of approximately USD 74 million. The loan agreement was signed on Friday, November 4, 2022, by HE Dr. Marouane El Abassi, Governor and Chairman of the Executive Board of the Central Bank of Tunisia, on behalf of the Republic of Tunisia, and HE Dr. Abdulrahman A. Al Hamidy, Director General Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the AMF, on behalf of the AMF, with the aim to avail financial resources to support the country’s financial position and its efforts to implement economic and financial reforms, in addition to providing impetus for the expected support from regional and international institutions.
The AMF follows closely the developments of the Tunisian economy and the challenges it faces due to the current global circumstances and works through a fruitful partnership with the Tunisian government to help the country address the different challenges in the most effective way, as the Tunisian economy witnessed positive developments during 2022, recording actual growth rates of about 2.4 percent and 2.8 percent for the first and second quarters of the aforementioned year, respectively, driven by the recovery of the agricultural sector, increased phosphate production, the growth of the manufacturing sector, especially the textiles, clothing and leather industries, and improvement in tourism revenues and remittances of the Tunisians expatriates.
The AMF is currently studying financing requests from other member countries, and is processing the requests through expeditious procedures, in order to provide support as quickly as possible, so that the borrowing member countries can meet financing needs and enhance their financial positions to face various economic challenges, especially in such times.
The AMF supports the efforts of its member countries to implement economic, financial, monetary and structural reforms, in face of various challenges, through a number of means, including financing the needs of the balance of payments and public budgets, and financing trade through its affiliate the Arab Trade Financing Program, in addition to its role in promoting policy dialogue and consultation on economic, financial and development issues via its various forums and activities, providing technical advice to member countries in the field of economic, fiscal and financial policies, and providing training and technical assistance for government officials in member countries through its Institute for Training and Capacity Building. The AMF is keen to provide financial and technical support to its member countries during this period in particular, in light of the current international developments and the impacts of the COVID-19, and their ensuing economic, financial and monetary repercussions in different aspects. The AMF assistance in this regard comes as a support to the reform efforts of member countries and the measures they are taking to stimulate the economy and provide liquidity in order to contain different effects.
Moreover, within the framework of its endeavors to support regional financial integration, encourage inter-Arab trade and investments and link with the main trading partners of Arab countries, the AMF completed the establishment of the Arab Regional Payments Clearing and Settlement Organization “Buna Platform” with the aim of encouraging the use of Arab currencies in inter-financial and investment transactions, and contributing to strengthening compliance in clearing and settling these transactions. It is worth noting that “Buna platform” is in line with relevant international standards and has international acceptance, as it is seen as a model for alignment with the G20 directions to enhance cross-border payments.