On Wednesday 25 May, the European Commission announced the disbursement of a second aid instalment of 300 million euros to Tunisia under the macrofinancial assistance programme worth three billion euros that the European Union set up to support ten enlargement and neighbourhood countries in spring 2020 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The first instalment of the total 600 million allocated to Tunisia in the form of long-term loans at preferential rates was disbursed in June 2021 (see EUROPE 12731/23). These loans will ease the North African country’s balance of payments and budgetary situation while supporting the implementation of key economic reforms, the Commission stresses, citing public sector reform, the strengthening of social protection mechanisms and the promotion of private investment.
The EU institution emphasises the importance of conducting a political transition process aimed at restoring the proper functioning of Tunisia’s democratic institutions, including a parliament, which was dissolved at the end of March by President Kaïs Saïed.
“The Tunisian authorities have reaffirmed their commitment to implement a political roadmap, which entails the organisation of a constitutional referendum and parliamentary elections respectively in July and December 2022”, it stresses. It also states that an agreement on a new IMF macrofinancial assistance programme will be important for the EU’s continued support to Tunisia. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)