Tunisia to receive $500 million from US

Tunisia’s finance minister returned from the US with a grant of $500 million intended to finance infrastructure projects.

“Our visit to Washington was important and fruitful with International Monetary Fund, World Bank and American officials”, minister Ali Kooli told Reuters.

Kooli was in Washington to start discussions about a new loan program with the IMF.

The US funding will be extended through the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a US government foreign assistance agency and will help finance projects in the transport and water sector and support rural women.

Tunisia’s economy contracted by 8.8% last year as the pandemic hit the vital tourism sector. This year the economy is expected to grow by 3.8%. according to IMF estimates.

Tunisia also struggles with a surge in its budget deficit that stood at 11.5% in 2020 when the country received $750 million emergency assistance from the IMF.