WB will keep up support to Tunisia’s reform process (Ferid Belhaj)

World Bank Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region Ferid Belhaj affirmed that his institution is "ready to continue playing its role as a long-term partner for Tunisia, to keep up its support to the reform process and socio-economic development and to back the country's development plan for inclusive and sustainable growth." On a visit to Tunisia, Belhaj on Thursday met with Governor of the Central Bank of Tunisia (BCT) Fethi Zouhair Nouri. The meeting offered the opportunity to share views on the economic situation in Tunisia and on the state of play and prospects of technical cooperation between the two institutions, according to a BCT press release. Discussions also focused on the importance of reforms to develop renewables in an international context characterised by the exacerbation of the risks associated with climate change, particularly in the region, while emphasising the role that international institutions should play in raising and allocating adequate financial resour ces for this purpose. The BCT Governor said on the occasion, that the stakes for Tunisia in the coming period consist in resuming investment and growth through sector-based policies capable of creating value, while at the same time succeeding in the major projects of digital, energy and ecological transition. "Better coordination of public, fiscal and monetary policies is still a necessary condition for meeting the economic and social challenges," he pointed out. Besides, he underlined the efforts exerted by the Tunisian authorities to control macroeconomic imbalances, as testified by the clear improvement in the external sector and the easing of inflationary pressures over the past year. Nouri commended the WB's unwavering support, both financially and technically, pointing to the efforts made by experts from this financial institution to support a large number of major strategic projects within the BCT, including the fostering of digital finance and financial inclusion, and the enhancement of the bankin g sector's resilience, in addition to projects related to the financial sector's greening. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse