Tunisia Mobilizes Support ahead of IMF Talks

Tunisia is mobilizing support ahead of IMF talks.
Tunisia is mobilizing support ahead of IMF talks.
TT

Tunisia Mobilizes Support ahead of IMF Talks

Tunisia is mobilizing support ahead of IMF talks.
Tunisia is mobilizing support ahead of IMF talks.

Tunisia is preparing to head to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in May to persuade the Fund to support its domestic economic reforms programs.

Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi held a series of preparatory meetings ahead of the talks.

Ambassador of the United States in Tunis Donald Blome affirmed during talks with the PM on Thursday his country's support for Tunisia in its negotiations with the IMF to raise necessary financial resources.

Blome added that the US administration is fully ready to support Tunisia's development efforts and ensure the success of the democratic process, the Prime Ministry said in a statement.

The ambassador also welcomed the progress made in the development program led by the Millennium Challenge Corporation in Tunisia, which will provide about $500 million in donations to support the national economy, especially in transportation and agriculture.

Ambassador of the European Union to Tunisia, Marcus Cornaro, on Thursday, expressed the EU's full support to the efforts of the Tunisian government in its national economic reform program.

Speaking during a meeting with Mechichi in Kasbah on Thursday, Cornaro added that the EU has support and cooperation mechanisms that will be made available to the Tunisian government, according to a statement from the Prime Ministry.

He stressed that the EU will be the first to defend Tunisia with member countries through ambitious investment and employment programs.

According to the IMF, Tunisia ended 2020 with an 8.8 percent recession. Tunisia’s current budget has a deficit of TND18.5 billion ($6.7 billion) and is likely to increase, according to preliminary estimates.



China Expands Visa-free Entry to More Countries in Bid to Boost Economy

Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
TT

China Expands Visa-free Entry to More Countries in Bid to Boost Economy

Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

China announced Friday that it would expand visa-free entry to citizens of nine more countries as it seeks to boost tourism and business travel to help revive a sluggish economy.
Starting Nov. 30, travelers from Bulgaria, Romania, Malta, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Estonia, Latvia and Japan will be able to enter China for up to 30 days without a visa, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said.
That will bring to 38 the number of countries that have been granted visa-free access since last year. Only three countries had visa-free access previously, and theirs had been eliminated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The permitted length of stay for visa-free entry is being increased from the previous 15 days, Lin said, and people participating in exchanges will be eligible for the first time. China has been pushing people-to-people exchange between students, academics and others to try to improve its sometimes strained relations with other countries, The Associated Press reported.
China strictly restricted entry during the pandemic and ended its restrictions much later than most other countries. It restored the previous visa-free access for citizens of Brunei and Singapore in July 2023, and then expanded visa-free entry to six more countries — France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia — on Dec. 1 of last year.
The program has since been expanded in tranches. Some countries have announced visa-free entry for Chinese citizens, notably Thailand, which wants to bring back Chinese tourists.
For the three months from July through September this year, China recorded 8.2 million entries by foreigners, of which 4.9 million were visa-free, the official Xinhua News Agency said, quoting a Foreign Ministry consular official.