The World Bank approved a five-year plan to lend Tunisia up to $5bn to support economic reforms aimed at reviving growth and creating jobs, the bank said on Wednesday.
The North African country is struggling with lower tourism revenue, which accounts for about 7% of gross domestic product, after four major Islamist militant attacks in the past year, protests over unemployment and slow progress on economic reforms that have lagged political advances made since its 2011 uprising.
Tunisia’s parliament recently approved laws on banking and on strengthening central bank autonomy to shield its board from political interference, two reforms sought by the country’s international lenders.
"(The) new five-year strategy of support …will provide up to $5bn in loans to Tunisia to restore economic growth and create jobs," the bank said in statement.
The economy has faltered since the 2011 revolt against autocrat Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali, which sparked the Arab Spring revolutions across North Africa and the Middle East.
Its economic growth slowed to 1% year-on-year in the first quarter as agricultural activity declined, the state statistics institute said on Wednesday. The global commodity downturn has also hurt its phosphate industry.
The North African country’s economic growth was 1.8% in the first quarter of 2015. It is expected to reach 2.5% this year, compared with 0.8% in 2015, Finance Minister Slim Chaker has said. The statistics agency said industrial activity for the first quarter fell about 1%. Agriculture slowed by 2.5%.
The International Monetary Fund said last month it has reached a tentative deal to assist Tunisia with a four-year loan programme worth about $2.8bn tied to economic reforms.
