TUNIS, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Thirteen Tunisian banks signed on Thursday an agreement to finance the national government with a total of 250 million euros (285.3 million U.S. dollars) to be repaid in three years.
Signed at an official ceremony in the presence of acting Finance Minister Fadhel Abdelkafi, this syndicated loan agreement fixes the interest rate at 2 percent on annual installment or 2.25 percent in bulk.
In a brief statement, Abdelkafi expressed his satisfaction with the commitment of local banks to supporting the Tunisian public finance and stressed the delicacy of the current situation where the country demands about 8.5 billion dinars (about 3.42 billion dollars).
"This loan goes hand in hand with the intention to diversify financing sources of the Tunisian state budget as well as the support to the state budget for the financial year 2017," said the minister.
"This syndicated loan represents one of the alternatives for the state to avoid external borrowing and financing," said Bachir Trabelsi, the director general of reserves and markets at the Central Bank of Tunisia.
While the prevailing international interest rate remains at around 4 percent, the country will possibly save no less than 15.7 million euros (about 17.9 million dollars) annually, due to the favorable interest rate proposed by those banks.
