The Tunisian Parliament approved on Monday, December 2, 2024, a measure authorizing the Central Bank of Tunisia (BCT) to grant a 7-billion-dinar loan to the state for the fiscal year 2025. The decision, passed by 86 votes in favor, 15 against, and 18 abstentions, allows for an interest-free loan repayable over 15 years, with a three-year grace period.
Tunisian Finance Minister Sihem Boughdiri Nemsia justified this move by highlighting urgent financial needs in the first quarter of 2025, particularly the debt service, which is estimated at 9 billion dinars. She also pointed out the usual slowdown in tax collections at the beginning of the year, with key corporate tax payments not due until March.
This decision follows previous practices, as the state had similar financing arrangements with the BCT in 2020 and 2024, in line with the provisions of Law No. 2016-35 regulating the status of the Central Bank. In 2024, the BCT was also authorized to provide facilities to the Treasury for the same amount, with a ten-year repayment period and grace period, interest-free.
