Tunisia will see its growth rate hover around 3% in Q2 of 2018, Governor of the Central Bank of Tunisia (French: BCT) Marouan Abassi Wednesday said on the sidelines of a conference on the completion of the third review under the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Extended Fund Facility (EFF) Arrangement for Tunisia.
“The most important fact is that this growth is essentially based on the improvement of productive activities as well on the sector of tourism and the relaunch of extractive activities, mainly phosphate, ” he said.
Tunisia turning to international financial markets is tightly linked to the international situation, Abassi highlighted.
This should be done at the right time, that is when the country gets an appropriate interest rate.
“There is no need for the move for the coming six months at least, especially as we are expecting a promising tourist season and an increase in Tunisian expatriates’ remittances, ” the Governor underlined.
Commenting on the approval of a $250 million tranche, the fourth in Tunisia’s loan program tied to economic reforms, Abassi said the amount is not important in itself but sends a reassuring message to other lenders and investors that the economy is recovering.
He likewise said other measures will be included in the 2019 finance law in a bid to achieve tax fairness and push for the integration of the informal sector into the mainstream economy.
“This will mobilize additional revenues for the state and help it overcome public finance difficulties, ” Abassi underlined.
