The new pound 115.6 million credit line from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), on which an information day was held on Friday in Tunis, will support Tunisian SMEs "in this particular context," said Central Bank of Tunisia (BCT) Governor Marouane Abassi.

The latter underlined the importance of this new line, which is designed to help SMEs gain easier access to long-term resources, pointing out that this financing mechanism is part of the project to support economic recovery.

The goal is to encourage investment and contribute to financial inclusion, to regional development, the green economy promotion and the increase of resilience to climate change, with the allocation of financing quotas to SMEs run by women, as well as to those located in priority development regions or operating in the green economy field.

Besides, Abassi also called on senior executives of banks and leasing institutions to endeavour to make the most of this funding line to achieve the target goal, in particular by training and mobilising their marketing staff to promote the use of this line by SMEs.

World Bank Resident Representative in Tunisia Alexandre Arrobbio underlined that his institution is working closely with the Tunisian authorities to support sustainable economic growth and employment in the private sector by improving access to funding for SMEs, in compliance with the new Partnership Framework between the World Bank and Tunisia.

He also said that this project is part of a wide-ranging programme involving other international partners and aimed at better meeting the financial needs of SMEs while ensuring effective risk management.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse