TUNIS: Tunisia expects to sign a $1.7bn loan deal with the International Monetary Fund next month after a delay due to the crisis that followed the killing of an opposition politician in February, the finance minister was quoted as saying yesterday.
A report on Al Arabiya television quoted Elyess Fakhfakh as saying the precautionary loan agreement would be reached “by May”.
Last week, the IMF said it would send a team to Tunis between April 8 and 15 to discuss the loan.
Tunisia plunged into crisis on Feb. 6 as the assassination of secular politician Chokri Belaid ignited the biggest street protests since the overthrow of strongman Zine Al Abidine Ben Ali two years ago.
But a new government has now been formed and protests have died down. Al Arabiya also quoted Fakhfakh as saying Tunisia planned to issue its first sovereign sukuk, or Islamic bond, in July to raise $700m. Tunisia’s government, led by moderate Islamists, is keen to develop Islamic finance, which was neglected for ideological reasons by Ben Ali’s government.
A Tunisian sukuk issue could potentially attract large amounts of Islamic funds from the wealthy Gulf. Reuters
