IMF Mission in Tunisia to Assess Advancement of Economic Reforms

Pedestrians walk past the International Monetary Fund headquarters’ complex in Washington. (AP)
Pedestrians walk past the International Monetary Fund headquarters’ complex in Washington. (AP)
TT
20

IMF Mission in Tunisia to Assess Advancement of Economic Reforms

Pedestrians walk past the International Monetary Fund headquarters’ complex in Washington. (AP)
Pedestrians walk past the International Monetary Fund headquarters’ complex in Washington. (AP)

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission has kicked off a new phase of talks with Tunisian authorities on the advancement of economic reforms, as part of the loan agreement.

The mission asserted that the IMF will maintain its support for the economic reforms, which will accelerate the development pace in Tunisia.

During his meeting with Ziad Al-Athari, minister of international cooperation and development on Friday, the mission’s head Bjoern Rother praised the efforts of Youssef al-Shahed’s government over the few past months to preserve financial balances.

Athari stressed the importance of the IMF’s understanding of the difficult economic situation in the country, highlighting its role in cooperating Tunisia in this phase to ensure the success of its nascent democratic experience.

The government is determined to promote investment as a cornerstone to enhance growth and wealth, work on supporting the public-private partnerships as a mechanism to accelerate the completion of important projects and decrease the financial pressures on the state budget.

The IMF’s mission’s visit to Tunisia comes as part of a review of the economic reforms and funding of $2.9 billion allocated to support the economic reform program.

Ezzeddine Saidan, a Tunisian economist said: "The IMF mission has not come to Tunisia for tourism, but to look at the developments of the Tunisian economic situation, aims of the draft fiscal law for the coming year, and the most important economic axes proposed within the structural reform program, along with preparing for the completion of the second review of the economic program supported by the Fund in the framework of facilitating the loan.”

He added that Tunisia has prepared for this visit by establishing a new ministerial portfolio, the Ministry of Economic Reform, which may convince the IMF to pay the third installment of the loan before the end of November.

Saidan expected that the IMF will eventually approve the new installment of the loan, after a short period of pressure on the Tunisian authorities to stress the importance of economic reforms for the Tunisian economy to achieve a real recovery.

Tunisia received the first and second installments of the IMF loan, valued at $ 628.8 million. Now, it is waiting the Fund's approval on paying the third installment, which is estimated at nearly $370 million (about 875 million Tunisian dinars).

According to most economic observers in Tunisia, the country deeply needs those loans paid in hard currency to revive the local economy, cover part of the budget deficit after the collapse of the Tunisian dinar and survive the slow economic growth and the instability of the trade balance.



Gold Gains on Safe-haven Demand as Trump Expands Trade War

FILE PHOTO: An employee places ingots of 99.99 percent pure gold in a workroom at the Novosibirsk precious metals refining and manufacturing plant in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, Russia, September 15, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander Manzyuk/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: An employee places ingots of 99.99 percent pure gold in a workroom at the Novosibirsk precious metals refining and manufacturing plant in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, Russia, September 15, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander Manzyuk/File Photo
TT
20

Gold Gains on Safe-haven Demand as Trump Expands Trade War

FILE PHOTO: An employee places ingots of 99.99 percent pure gold in a workroom at the Novosibirsk precious metals refining and manufacturing plant in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, Russia, September 15, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander Manzyuk/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: An employee places ingots of 99.99 percent pure gold in a workroom at the Novosibirsk precious metals refining and manufacturing plant in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, Russia, September 15, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander Manzyuk/File Photo

Gold prices rose for a third straight session on Friday, as US President Donald Trump's announcement of new tariffs on Canada and broader tariff threats against other trading partners lifted demand for the safe-haven asset.
Spot gold was up 0.5% to $3,339.99 per ounce, as of 0755 GMT. US gold futures gained 0.8% to $3,351.
"We're seeing some growing demand for gold as a haven. There are investors looking for some safety asset despite stock markets hitting highs. And any dip in gold is seen as a buying opportunity now," said Carlo Alberto De Casa, an external analyst at Swissquote.
On Thursday, Trump said US would impose a 35% tariff on imports from Canada and planned to impose blanket duties of 15% or 20% on most other trade partners, Reuters said.
This follows Wednesday's announcement of a 50% tariff on US copper imports and a similar levy on goods from Brazil, along with tariff notifications sent earlier to other trading partners.
Trump also said the European Union could receive a letter on tariff rates by Friday, throwing into question the progress of trade talks between Washington and the 27-nation bloc.
"Rising trade tensions have reinvigorated demand for haven assets such as gold amid the prospect of an economic slowdown. The more dovish Fed is also boosting investor appetite," analysts at ANZ wrote in a note.
Data on Thursday showed weekly jobless claims in the US fell unexpectedly to a seven-week low, indicating stable employment levels.
Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller on Thursday reiterated his belief the central bank could cut interest rates at its policy meeting later this month.
Meanwhile, Fed Bank of San Francisco President Mary Daly said two rate cuts remain on the table for this year.
Lower rates boost non-yielding gold's appeal.
Elsewhere, spot silver rose 0.9% to $37.37 per ounce, platinum fell 1% to $1,346.81 and palladium climbed 1.3% to $1,156.44.