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5-Year Cooperation Plan between Tunisia, EBRD

The headquarter of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development ( EBRD) is seen in London, Britain, November 22, Britain 2016. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth
The headquarter of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development ( EBRD) is seen in London, Britain, November 22, Britain 2016. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth
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5-Year Cooperation Plan between Tunisia, EBRD

The headquarter of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development ( EBRD) is seen in London, Britain, November 22, Britain 2016. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth
The headquarter of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development ( EBRD) is seen in London, Britain, November 22, Britain 2016. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth

The European Bank for Development and Reconstruction has discussed with Tunisia a five-year economic strategy that would consolidate financial and technical cooperation between the two sides until 2023.

The discussions took place in Tunis between Tunisia’s Minister of Development, Investment and International Cooperation Ziad Ladhari and EBRD Managing Director for the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean region Janet Heckman.

Ladhari said following the talks that setting the strategy would contribute greatly to the improvement of cooperation between the two sides, which would reflect positively on the Tunisian economy.

Since September 2012, when EBRD operations began in Tunisia, the Bank has invested millions in dozens of projects in the country.

In December 2017, the EBRD provided Banque de Tunisie with a financing package that consists of a €50 million loan for on-lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

As part of its continued support to Tunisia’s expansion of international and intra-regional trade, EBRD provided this week a US$20 million trade facility to Banque de Tunisie under its Trade Facilitation Program.

According to EBRD, the trade finance line will allow Banque de Tunisie to issue guarantees in favor of international commercial banks covering the commercial payment risk of the transactions undertaken by the Tunisian bank.

“This EBRD facility will help Banque de Tunisie to support its Tunisian clients and allow international trade flows to grow, which will contribute to the overall economic growth of the country,” Heckman said.

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US Economy Grows at 3.1% Pace in 3rd Quarter, an Upgrade from Previous Estimate

FILE PHOTO: A sailboat passes by the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor, in New York City, US, September 20, 2024. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A sailboat passes by the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor, in New York City, US, September 20, 2024. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
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US Economy Grows at 3.1% Pace in 3rd Quarter, an Upgrade from Previous Estimate

FILE PHOTO: A sailboat passes by the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor, in New York City, US, September 20, 2024. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A sailboat passes by the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor, in New York City, US, September 20, 2024. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

The American economy grew at a healthy 3.1% annual clip from July through September, propelled by vigorous consumer spending and an uptick in exports, the government said in an upgrade to its previous estimate.
Third-quarter growth in US gross domestic product — the economy's output of goods and services — accelerated from the April-July rate of 3% and continued to look sturdy despite high interest rates, the Commerce Department said Thursday. GDP growth has now topped 2% in eight of the last nine quarters.
Consumer spending, which accounts for about two-thirds of US economic activity, expanded at a 3.7% pace, fastest since the first quarter of 2023 and an uptick from Commerce’s previous third-quarter estimate of 3.5%, The Associated Press reported.
Exports climbed 9.6%. Business investment grew a lackluster 0.8%, but investment in equipment expanded 10.8%. Spending and investment by the federal government jumped 8.9%, including a 13.9% surge in defense spending.
American voters were unimpressed by the steady growth under Democratic President Joe Biden. Exasperated by prices that remain 20% higher than they were when an inflationary surge began in early 2021, they chose last month to send Donald Trump back to the White House with Republican majorities in the House and Senate.
Trump will inherit an economy that looks healthy overall. The unemployment rate remains low at 4.2% even though it is up from the 53-year low 3.4% reached in April 2023. Inflation hit a four-decade high 9.1% in mid-2002. Eleven interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve in 2022 and 2023 helped bring it down — to 2.7% last month. That is above the Fed's 2% target. But the central bank still felt comfortable enough with the progress against inflation to cut its benchmark rate Wednesday for the third time this year.
Within the GDP data, a category that measures the economy’s underlying strength rose at a solid 3.4% annual rate from July through September, an upgrade from the previous estimate and up from 2.7% in the April-June quarter. This category includes consumer spending and private investment but excludes volatile items like exports, inventories and government spending.
Wednesday’s report also contained some encouraging news on inflation. The Federal Reserve’s favored inflation gauge — called the personal consumption expenditures index, or PCE — rose at just a 1.5% annual pace last quarter, down from 2.5% in the second quarter. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core PCE inflation was 2.2%, up modestly from the previous estimate but down from 2.8% in the April-June quarter.
Thursday's report was the Commerce Department's third and final look at third-quarter GDP. It will publish its initial estimate of October-December growth on Jan. 30.