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Tunisia Receives €400 Million in Loans

Passengers stranded at Tunis Carthage airport wait for flights on March 16, 2020. (Getty Images)
Passengers stranded at Tunis Carthage airport wait for flights on March 16, 2020. (Getty Images)
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Tunisia Receives €400 Million in Loans

Passengers stranded at Tunis Carthage airport wait for flights on March 16, 2020. (Getty Images)
Passengers stranded at Tunis Carthage airport wait for flights on March 16, 2020. (Getty Images)

The Tunisian parliamentary finance committee has okayed five sealed deals with donors that allow it to receive loans amounting to nearly EUR400 million to implement a number of government projects.

The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) approved a EUR98.2 million loan to help finance an e-governance program and support digital transformation in administrative services. IBRD also approved a loan of EUR66.9 million to support emerging companies and SMEs.

The parliament approved the government’s request for loans, totaling EUR238 million, from the from the African Development Bank (AfDB). One loan, worth EUR108 million, will go to the Tunisian Company of Electricity and Gas (STEG) to fund the electric power transmission project this year.

A second, worth EUR100 million, will be dedicated to SMEs and active institutions in various sectors, and a third will finance the electric power transmission project in 2021.

According to the Ministry of Finance, the economy needs around TND11 billion (around USD3.8 billion) in foreign and domestic loans to fund the 2020 budget. The country’s economic woes have been compounded by the coronavirus and ensuing lockdowns.

Tunisia’s economy is expected to contract by 4.3 percent in 2020 amid the coronavirus crisis, the deepest contraction since its independence in 1956, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said earlier this month.

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Saudi Aramco’s Q1 Profit Rises 25% on Higher Sales, Key Pipeline Full

Saudi Aramco's logo during the CERAWeek energy conference 2026 in Houston, Texas, US, March 24, 2026. (Reuters)
Saudi Aramco's logo during the CERAWeek energy conference 2026 in Houston, Texas, US, March 24, 2026. (Reuters)
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Saudi Aramco’s Q1 Profit Rises 25% on Higher Sales, Key Pipeline Full

Saudi Aramco's logo during the CERAWeek energy conference 2026 in Houston, Texas, US, March 24, 2026. (Reuters)
Saudi Aramco's logo during the CERAWeek energy conference 2026 in Houston, Texas, US, March 24, 2026. (Reuters)

Saudi oil giant Aramco reported on Sunday a 25% rise in first-quarter net profit, mainly due to higher sales, while the East-West crude pipeline that circumvents the Strait of Hormuz has reached its full capacity.

The world's top oil exporter reported net profit of $32.5 billion in the three months ended March 31, beating an LSEG consensus estimate of $30.95 billion. Total revenue climbed 11.4% from the previous quarter to $115.49 billion.

Aramco CEO Amin Nasser, who had ‌warned during the ‌company's previous earnings of "catastrophic consequences" if the ‌strait remains ⁠shut, said the ⁠results reflect strong resilience and operational flexibility in a "complex geopolitical environment".

Iran's effective blockade of shipping through the crucial waterway following the US-Israeli war against it prompted Aramco to ramp up crude flows from its production heartland on its east coast to the port of Yanbu on ⁠the Red Sea.

"Our East-West Pipeline, which ‌reached its maximum capacity of ‌7.0 million barrels of oil per day, has proven itself ‌to be a critical supply artery, helping to mitigate ‌the impact of a global energy shock and providing relief to customers affected by shipping constraints in the Strait of Hormuz," Nasser said in a statement.

"Recent events have clearly demonstrated ‌the vital contribution of oil and gas to energy security and the global economy, and ⁠are a ⁠stark reminder that reliable energy supply is critical."

Aramco's adjusted net profit for the quarter was $33.6 billion, beating a company-provided median estimate from 13 analysts of $31.16 billion. The figure strips out $1.06 billion in non-operational accounting items, which were mainly tied to changes in inventory replacement costs, paper gains or losses on energy trading contracts and certain financing expenses.

Business

World Bank Raises Egypt's Package by $300 Million to Counter Iran War Impact

Construction work on buildings in downtown Cairo (Photo: Abdelfattah Farag)
Construction work on buildings in downtown Cairo (Photo: Abdelfattah Farag)
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World Bank Raises Egypt's Package by $300 Million to Counter Iran War Impact

Construction work on buildings in downtown Cairo (Photo: Abdelfattah Farag)
Construction work on buildings in downtown Cairo (Photo: Abdelfattah Farag)

Egypt will receive an extra $300 million as part of a World Bank development financing package to help it confront fallout from the Iran war, Stephane Guimbert, the World Bank's division director for Egypt, Yemen, and Djibouti, told reporters on Saturday.

The package, consisting of $800 million from the World Bank and a $200 million British guarantee, is to support private sector–led job creation, macroeconomic stability, and the green transition. The bank's board approved it on Friday.

The bank's share was increased from $500 million due ⁠to "the uncertainty in ⁠the region and the shock facing Egypt, like other countries, because of the war in Iran," Reuters quoted him as saying.

The financing is on terms unavailable in commercial markets — at around 6% interest, with a maturity of 30 years and a grace period before repayments ⁠begin, Guimbert said.

The operation is the second in a three-part program. The first was approved in June 2024; a third is planned for next year.

Other lenders, including the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, are expected to provide complementary parallel financing.

Private investment in Egypt has risen to around 6% of GDP from roughly 4%, Guimbert said, but noted this remained far below peer economies where private investment often exceeds 20% of GDP. ⁠The ⁠bank is also advising Egypt on how to boost foreign direct investment.

Egypt has the potential to achieve 6% annual medium-term growth if macroeconomic stability and structural reforms are maintained, he added. At that pace, Egypt could generate roughly 2 million jobs annually compared with around 600,000 currently.

On social protection, Guimbert said Egypt's Takaful and Karama cash transfers offered more targeted support to poor families than its large-scale bread subsidy program. "In times of crisis, you want to lean heavily on Takaful and Karama," he said.

Business

Putin Says Russia Will Meet Slovakia's Energy Demand

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico attend a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow on May 9, 2026 (EPA)
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico attend a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow on May 9, 2026 (EPA)
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Putin Says Russia Will Meet Slovakia's Energy Demand

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico attend a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow on May 9, 2026 (EPA)
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico attend a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow on May 9, 2026 (EPA)

President Vladimir Putin told Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico at a meeting in the Kremlin on Saturday that Russia will do everything to meet Slovakia's energy demand.

Slovakia is among only a few countries in Europe that are still buying Russia's oil and gas. ⁠Slovakia gets Russian ⁠oil via the Soviet-built Druzhba pipeline, while natural gas from Russia flows there through the TurkStream pipeline.

Fico arrived in Moscow for the festivities to ⁠mark the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two.

"We will do everything to satisfy Slovakia's needs in energy resources," Putin told Fico, who chose not to attend the Victory Parade on Moscow's Red Square, in comments broadcast on national TV.

According to Reuters, Russian state media ⁠had ⁠previously reported that Fico was due to attend the parade.

Slovakia, an EU member, has sought to maintain political ties with Russia and has argued that it would be too costly to wean itself off Russian supplies after building its infrastructure around it.