Tunisia has borrowed about TND 1,150 million in foreign currency from local banks since the beginning of 2023 under two syndicated loans. This amount is twice the value of the foreign currency bank loan forecast in the State Budget Report for 2023, which is estimated at TND 528 million. Tunisia has raised about TND 1.27 billion from local banks in 2021, and the government has endeavoured to raise TND 340 million, according to the 2022 Finance Law. The government has set itself the target of raising TND 24.3 billion in 2023 from various domestic borrowing sources, such as treasury bills, the national bond issue and the syndicated loan in foreign currencies. The Finance Ministry said on October 10, 2023 that 18 local banks had granted the State a second syndicated loan of TND 750 million in foreign currency, while the first loan, signed on May 16, was financed by 12 local banking institutions for more than TND 400 million in foreign currency. This was the 7th operation of its kind in the last five years, said economist Ezzedine Saidane in a statement to TAP. In a statement to the TAP agency, the economist explained that “these loans are mainly based on the sight deposits of the banks’ non-resident customers, which is what is known in the banking sector as the transformation of sight deposits into medium-term loans to the State.” The Finance Ministry uses the syndicated loan to repay an old local bank debt. The report on the State 2023 budget stipulates that the government will repay the local banks pound 140 million in March 2023 and pound 86 million in June 2023. The ministry indicated that the State had repaid local banks $5 million in April 2023 and $43 million in June 2023.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse