Oct. 19 () –
The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, has welcomed the preliminary agreement between the IMF and the Tunisian authorities for the delivery of a loan estimated at 1,900 million dollars (1,950 million euros) with a view to final ratification in December.
“The European Union is ready to contribute to this program and to the general stability of Tunisia, including through a rapid disbursement of the next tranche of our budget support of 40 million euros and the consideration of a new macro-financial assistance”, said Borrell in a statement read by the Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement, Oliver Varhelyi, in one of the plenary sessions of the European Parliament.
Thus, he specified that the EU remains willing to support the Tunisian people in a “difficult economic context”. “We remain willing to accompany them in the substantial and difficult, but necessary, structural reforms that they will have to undertake,” she specified.
In this sense, he recalled that the Tunisian people seek to preserve the “shared principles and values” brought about by the Jasmine Revolution, the uprising framed in the Arab Spring that led to the end of the autocratic regime of Zine el Abidine ben Ali in 2011.
“The European Union has not hidden its fears regarding some of the measures adopted in recent months in Tunisia. Our message has been very clear from the beginning, privately and publicly when necessary,” he said.
Despite this, he clarified that “political transitions are difficult”, which is why the EU considers its support for Tunisia “crucial” to promote an “inclusive dialogue” towards a democratic process that has a “broad consensus”.
The agreement with the IMF is considered an essential step for international investors and donors to regain confidence in the country, the scene of a serious political crisis since July last year since the president, Kais Saied, dissolved the government and suspended the Parliament –subsequently dissolved–, assuming all powers.
Tunisia has been in need of international aid for months as it grapples with a crisis in public finances that has raised fears it could default on debt, contributing to food and fuel shortages.
