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Tunisia Secures $1.2 Billion from Islamic Development Bank

Amira Masrour | 17 June 2013 | 1 Comment

Tunisia has secured $1.2 billion in funding from the Saudi-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB), reported Reuters. The financing package is aimed at backing industrial, agricultural, and trade projects in Tunisia, which has been faced with serious economic concerns. Major bond credit rating company Moody’s recently downgraded the credit rating of Tunisia and of several Tunisian [...]

Exchanging Blame for Tunisia’s Economic Woes

Tristan Dreisbach | 14 June 2013 | 3 Comments

One of the few points of broad agreement in Tunisian political society is that the economy has not fared well since the January 2011 revolution that brought down former president Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali. The responsibility for this situation and the policy choices to remedy the country’s woes, however, remain very much in question, as [...]

IMF Loan Finalized After Months of Delays and Debate

Tristan Dreisbach | 11 June 2013 | 0 Comments

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved a controversial $1.7 billion two-year stand-by loan agreement with Tunisia, meaning the deal is now finalized after months of delays and heated debates. The agreement was announced Friday. $150.2 million will be immediately available to the Tunisian government, while the rest will be disbursed in installments subject to [...]

New Data Shows Slowdown in Economic Growth

Amira Masrour | 28 May 2013 | 0 Comments

Data released yesterday by the Tunisian Central Bank (BCT) showed that the country’s economic growth has decreased significantly over the past year. The bank’s estimates of the economic growth during the first quarter of 2013 stood at 2.7%, down from 4.6% over the same period in 2012. This change goes back to a decline in the [...]

NCA Renews Debate Over IMF Loan Deal

Amira Masrour | 22 May 2013 | 0 Comments

Controversy over a pending stand-by loan agreement between the government and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was renewed yesterday at the National Constituent Assembly (NCA). Some NCA members criticized the idea of borrowing from the IMF and the conditions attached to securing the funds, whereas the leadership of the Tunisian Central Bank (BCT) and the [...]

Prime Minister Says Economy Slowly Recovering

Amira Masrour | 21 May 2013 | 1 Comment

Prime Minister Ali Laarayedh said during a trip to Qatar that the Tunisian economy is slowly recovering, the inflation rate is under control, and unemployment has decreased. Laarayedh made the comments during the Doha International Forum, according to state news agency TAP. “The Tunisian economy is back on track even if it is picking up slowly,” said Laarayedh , [...]

The Real Reason Prices are High in Tunisia

Op-ed Contributor | 13 May 2013 | 7 Comments

In this article I will talk about inflation, or as economists define it, “the percentage increase in the average level of prices.” This commentary will be unusual in that I will imagine how an eminent American economist, Milton Friedman (1912–2006), would react to the explanations given by the central bank of Tunisia (henceforth, the Bank) [...]

Protests by Jobless Tunisians Threaten Phosphate Industry

Tristan Dreisbach | 02 May 2013 | 5 Comments

The Tunisian phosphate industry, a pillar of the nation’s economy, has been crippled by ongoing protests that have slowed or halted production in the area around the city of Gafsa. Unemployed job-seekers have prevented access to phosphate production facilities in Om Laarayes and Rudayyif, preventing them from operating and dramatically slashing revenues of the state-controlled [...]

President Marzouki Says Fixing Budget Requires Subsidy Reforms

Farah Samti | 30 April 2013 | 5 Comments

Politicians, civil society representatives and economic experts met Tuesday to discuss reforming policies that govern subsidies on Tunisian goods in an effort to close the country’s budget deficit and improve the economy. The Tunisian Institute for Strategic Studies, a think tank affiliated with the Tunisian Presidency, organized the conference with the Tunisian Union of Commerce and [...]

Think Tank Affiliated with President Criticizes IMF Deal (Updated)

Tristan Dreisbach | 24 April 2013 | 2 Comments

A memo released last week by a think tank tied to the president criticized the loan agreement between Tunisia and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and called into question the transparency of the Tunisian government. The memo was released by the Tunisian Institute for Strategic Studies (ITES), a publicly-funded research institute affiliated with the office [...]

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