Tunisia Working with IMF on ‘Fair’ Economic Program 

Tunisian President Kais Saied arrives for the closing session of the New Global Financial Pact Summit, Friday, June 23, 2023 in Paris, France. (Reuters)
Tunisian President Kais Saied arrives for the closing session of the New Global Financial Pact Summit, Friday, June 23, 2023 in Paris, France. (Reuters)
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Tunisia Working with IMF on ‘Fair’ Economic Program 

Tunisian President Kais Saied arrives for the closing session of the New Global Financial Pact Summit, Friday, June 23, 2023 in Paris, France. (Reuters)
Tunisian President Kais Saied arrives for the closing session of the New Global Financial Pact Summit, Friday, June 23, 2023 in Paris, France. (Reuters)

Tunisia is working with the International Monetary Fund on a "fair" economic reform program that takes account of vulnerable groups, central bank governor Marouan Abassi said on Friday.

His comments come after Tunisian President Kais Saied told IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva during a meeting in Paris on Thursday that the fund's conditions to provide financial support to the North African country risk sparking civil unrest, the presidency said on Friday.

Abassi's remarks confirm a Reuters report that Tunisia has put forward an alternative proposal to the lender after President Saied strongly rejected what he called IMF "diktats".

Talks on a $1.9 billion loan have been stalled since October when Tunisia and the IMF reached a preliminary agreement, with Saied rejecting the idea of subsidy cuts and speaking out against the sale of state-owned companies.

Saied reiterated in his meeting with Georgieva that any required cuts to subsidies, mostly on energy and food, could have detrimental effects on the country, recalling deadly riots that hit Tunisia in 1983 after the government raised the price of bread.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken this month urged Tunisia to present a revised plan. The European Union announced it would offer 900 million euros ($978.03 million) in loans contingent on an IMF program.

Without a loan, Tunisia faces a full-blown balance of payments crisis.

Most debt is internal but there are foreign loan repayments due later this year, and credit ratings agencies have said Tunisia may default.



Saudi-GCC Non-Oil Trade Surplus Achieves 203% Annual Growth

An oil tanker is being loaded at Saudi Aramco's Ras Tanura oil refinery and oil terminal in Saudi Arabia May 21, 2018. (Reuters)
An oil tanker is being loaded at Saudi Aramco's Ras Tanura oil refinery and oil terminal in Saudi Arabia May 21, 2018. (Reuters)
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Saudi-GCC Non-Oil Trade Surplus Achieves 203% Annual Growth

An oil tanker is being loaded at Saudi Aramco's Ras Tanura oil refinery and oil terminal in Saudi Arabia May 21, 2018. (Reuters)
An oil tanker is being loaded at Saudi Aramco's Ras Tanura oil refinery and oil terminal in Saudi Arabia May 21, 2018. (Reuters)

The non-oil trade surplus of Saudi Arabia with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries recorded an annual growth rate of 203.2% to more than SAR2 billion in April, reported the Saudi Press Agency on Friday. It soared to around SAR3,511 million from SAR1,158 million in the same month last year.

According to preliminary data from the International Trade Bulletin for April, published by the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT), the total volume of non-oil trade, including re-exports, between Saudi Arabia and GCC countries amounted to around SAR18,028 million. This reflects a year-on-year growth of 41.3%, with an increase of SAR5,271 million from SAR12,757 million in April 2024.

Non-oil commodity exports, including re-exports, rose by 55%, totaling SAR10,770 million, up from SAR6,958 million in April of the previous year, an increase of over SAR3,812 million.

Meanwhile, the value of national non-oil commodity exports reached around SAR3,031 million, compared to SAR2,675 million in April 2024, achieving a year-on-year growth rate of 13.3%, with an increase estimated at SAR356 million.

Additionally, the value of re-exports surged by 81%, reaching SAR7,738 million compared to SAR4,282 million, an increase of SAR3,456 million.

Saudi Arabia’s imports from GCC countries stood at SAR7,258 million in April 2025, compared to SAR5,799 million last year, achieving a year-on-year growth of 25.2%, with an increase of SAR1,459 million.

The data indicated that the United Arab Emirates ranked first in terms of non-oil trade volume with Saudi Arabia, amounting to SAR13,533 million, representing about 75.1% of the total.

Bahrain followed in second place with a trade value of SAR1,798 million (10%), while Oman ranked third with SAR1,454 million (8.1%). Kuwait was fourth with SAR819.9 million (4.5%), and Qatar came next with a value of SAR422.1 million (2.3%).