Better weathering the coronavirus crisis through reforms: KfW is supporting the public sector in Tunisia with EUR 150 million

• Expanding the “Compact with Africa” reform partnership from the banking and financial sector to the public sector
• Ensuring the Tunisian government's ability to act during the coronavirus pandemic

On behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), KfW Development Bank has signed a promotional loan with the Tunisian Ministry of Development, Investment and International Cooperation for EUR 150 million. The promotional loan is part of the German-Tunisian reform partnership and supports the Tunisian government in its efforts to modernise Tunisia's public sector and make it more efficient. To achieve this, reforms in the areas of public administration, fiscal management and state-owned enterprises were agreed. This financing is also marking a contribution towards stabilising the national budget. It helps to maintain the Tunisian's government ability to act despite losses from the coronavirus crisis due to limited trade and loss of tourism.

“Expansion of the reform partnership between Germany and Tunisia shows the initiative's positive and successful progress. The current objective is to lighten the burden on Tunisia's national budget over the long term with the intended reforms. In addition, it aims to create a more attractive investment environment through more efficient administration and reforms to the tax system. But the Tunisian population will also benefit from improved state services,” said Prof. Dr Joachim Nagel, Member of the Executive Board at KfW Group.

The German-Tunisian reform partnership began in 2017 as Germany's bilateral contribution to the G20 “Compact with Africa” initiative. Reform efforts in the Tunisian banking and financial sector are being supported in this context. KfW Development Bank provided the Tunisian state with EUR 600 million in promotional volume for this purpose. Germany and Tunisia recently agreed to expand the reform partnership from the financial sector to the public sector.

More information on KfW Development Bank is available at: www.kfw-entwicklungsbank.de