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World Bank Grants $175 Million to Tunisia

A vendor displays clothing for sale at "Souk Libya" marketplace in the town of Ben Guerdane, near the Libyan border in Tunisia May 24, 2019. REUTERS/Zoubeir
A vendor displays clothing for sale at "Souk Libya" marketplace in the town of Ben Guerdane, near the Libyan border in Tunisia May 24, 2019. REUTERS/Zoubeir
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World Bank Grants $175 Million to Tunisia

A vendor displays clothing for sale at "Souk Libya" marketplace in the town of Ben Guerdane, near the Libyan border in Tunisia May 24, 2019. REUTERS/Zoubeir
A vendor displays clothing for sale at "Souk Libya" marketplace in the town of Ben Guerdane, near the Libyan border in Tunisia May 24, 2019. REUTERS/Zoubeir

The World Bank has granted Tunisia two loans totaling $ 175 million to finance digital transition programs, Tunisian Minister of Communications Technologies and Digital Economy Anouar Maarouf announced on Saturday.

Maarouf added that the funding would expedite the implementation of the national strategic program Digital Tunisia 2020 and provide ground for making Tunisia an international digital reference.

According to the ministry, the first loan worth USD100 million will be allocated to fund the digital transformation inside the Tunisian administration, while the second loan worth USD75 million will be dedicated for funding projects of emerging projects and SMEs in Tunisia.

Notably, restructuring the Tunisian administration is one of the reforms demanded by the IMF to receive consecutive loan installments from 2016-2020 worth USD2.9 billion.

Tunisian authorities seek to allocate a minimum of USD45 million of the total amount to establish the 'fund of the funds' that would fund emerging firms in Tunisia.

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Washington Urges Israel to Extend Cooperation with Palestinian Banks

A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
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Washington Urges Israel to Extend Cooperation with Palestinian Banks

A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)

The United States on Thursday called on Israel to extend its cooperation with Palestinian banks for another year, to avoid blocking vital transactions in the occupied West Bank.

"I am glad that Israel has allowed its banks to continue cooperating with Palestinian banks, but I remain convinced that a one-year extension of the waiver to facilitate this cooperation is needed," US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Thursday, on the sidelines of a meeting of G20 finance ministers in Rio de Janeiro.

In May, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich threatened to cut off a vital banking channel between Israel and the West Bank in response to three European countries recognizing the State of Palestine.

On June 30, however, Smotrich extended a waiver that allows cooperation between Israel's banking system and Palestinian banks in the occupied West Bank for four months, according to Israeli media, according to AFP.

The Times of Israel newspaper reported that the decision on the waiver was made at a cabinet meeting in a "move that saw Israel legalize several West Bank settlement outposts."

The waiver was due to expire at the end of June, and the extension permitted Israeli banks to process payments for salaries and services to the Palestinian Authority in shekels, averting a blow to a Palestinian economy already devastated by the war in Gaza.

The Israeli threat raised serious concerns in the United States, which said at the time it feared "a humanitarian crisis" if banking ties were cut.

According to Washington, these banking channels are key to nearly $8 billion of imports from Israel to the West Bank, including electricity, water, fuel and food.