Tunisia Seeks To Secure US$ 1.7 Bln Loan From IMF

The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) mission will meet with the Tunisian government to negotiate a US$ 1.7 billion loan that Tunisia seek to received in order to shield itself against the current economic crisis that started since the revolution that toppled Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 2011.

The IMF’s delegation will meet with the Tunisian government to discuss the latest economic developments and reforms implemented by the government, a high-level Tunisian government official told Amwal Al Ghad.

Tunisia had earlier asked the IMF for a precautionary loan, but the economic and political deterioration will probably lead the country to ask for a loan because there are no alternative financing sources sufficient to save the country from the current crisis, he added.

On the sidelines of the World Bank Conference held at Cairo, the official stated that “the Tunisian economy has been hit in 2011 after the overthrow of Ben Ali, but it recovered in 2012. However, the assassination of secular opposition politician Chokri Belaid, which ignited the biggest street protests, has intensified the political and economic woes of the country.”