Tunisia's Economy Expected to Shrink 7% in 2020

FILE PHOTO: A vendor sells lemons at a market in downtown Tunis, Tunisia November 20, 2019. Picture taken November 20, 2019. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi
FILE PHOTO: A vendor sells lemons at a market in downtown Tunis, Tunisia November 20, 2019. Picture taken November 20, 2019. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi
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Tunisia's Economy Expected to Shrink 7% in 2020

FILE PHOTO: A vendor sells lemons at a market in downtown Tunis, Tunisia November 20, 2019. Picture taken November 20, 2019. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi
FILE PHOTO: A vendor sells lemons at a market in downtown Tunis, Tunisia November 20, 2019. Picture taken November 20, 2019. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi

Tunisia’s Minister of Investment and International Cooperation expected that his country’s economy would shrink by around 7 percent this year, noting that the number of those unemployed would rise by about 275,000, quoting a government study conducted in partnership with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

This month, Tunisia ended all restrictions on travel and movement aimed at containing the spread of the new coronavirus, while the economic sectors returned to work normally. Land, sea and air borders are set to reopen end of June.

But the vital tourism sector, which accounts for about 10 percent of the GDP, was hit hardly by the crisis.

Minister Salim el-Ezaby said that the study expects economy to shrink by 4.4 percent, but added that deflation may reach 6 or 7 percent in the supplementary finance law, which the government will present to Parliament within weeks.

The tourism industry fell by about 50 percent in the first five months of this year. The study, which was presented at a press conference, indicated that the unemployment rate will increase to 21.6%, compared to 15% recorded at the beginning of this year.

According to the Tunisian Institute of Statistics, the total value of trade exchanges amounted to about 14.921 billion dinars of exports, compared to 21.021 billion Tunisian dinars of imports.

The institute revealed the decline in foreign commercial exchanges during the past month, while exports witnessed a decline of 37.1 percent during the month of May.



Lebanon's New Central Bank Chief Vows to Fight Money Laundering

Lebanon's newly appointed central bank governor Karim Souaid speaks during a handover ceremony in Beirut on April 4, 2025. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP)
Lebanon's newly appointed central bank governor Karim Souaid speaks during a handover ceremony in Beirut on April 4, 2025. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP)
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Lebanon's New Central Bank Chief Vows to Fight Money Laundering

Lebanon's newly appointed central bank governor Karim Souaid speaks during a handover ceremony in Beirut on April 4, 2025. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP)
Lebanon's newly appointed central bank governor Karim Souaid speaks during a handover ceremony in Beirut on April 4, 2025. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP)

Lebanon’s new central bank governor vowed Friday that the institution will fight money laundering and the financing of terrorism and will work independently away from political intervention.
Karim Souaid, who was speaking after officially taking office in Beirut, added that he will work on restructuring the banking sector, public debt and returning money to depositors, The Associated Press reported.
Lebanon’s economy has been witnessing its worst crisis in its modern history since 2019 and the state must implement reforms demanded by the international community. Such reforms are needed to unlock international aid, and on top of that, Israel’s 14-month war with Hezbollah that caused what the World Bank estimates was $11 billion in damages and economic losses.

Since the historic meltdown began Lebanon has been running on a cash economy and in October, the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force, or FATF, an international anti-money laundering watchdog, placed Lebanon on its “grey list.”
“We will work on implementing international laws on top of them combating money laundering and supporting terrorism,” Souaid said.

The former asset manager added that banks in Lebanon should recapitalize by pumping new money and those that cannot and don’t want to can merge with other lenders. He said that the priority will be to return deposits starting with people who have small accounts. He said the return of deposits should be the responsibility of the banks, central bank and the state.

Souaid said the central bank will study all economic recovery plans put forward by previous governments to help the small nation get out of the crisis.

Souaid also pledged to safeguard the central bank's independence from political pressure and prevent conflicts of interest.
"I will ensure that this national institution remains independent in its decision-making, shielded from interference, and grounded in the core principles of transparency and integrity," he said.

Wassim Mansouri, who had been acting central bank governor since July 2023, said the central bank’s reserves stood at 10.727 billion at the end of March.

Souaid succeeds Riad Salameh, the embattled former governor of 30 years whose term ended with several international corruption cases lodged against him and for embezzlement and other financial crimes.