A loan of €40 million was approved Wednesday by the board of directors of the African Development Bank, to finance a fourth line of credit to the Tuniso-Kuwaiti Development Bank.
In a press release, the Tuniso-Kuwaiti Development Bank explained that the objective of the new line of credit was to help meet the growth objectives of Tunisia's tourism and manufacturing sectors during the coming two years, by financing the creation, expansion and modernization of small and medium-sized enterprises operating in these areas.
The loan will permit it to grant medium and long-term resources to finance direct and indirect foreign exchange costs. More specifically, the credit will be used to finance about 40 economically viable and environmentally friendly projects. Most involve 3-5-star hotels, mainly located on the Tunisian coastline.
The Tuniso-Kuwaiti Development Bank hopes the credit line will improve its portfolio quality, which expects that the ratio of bad debts to turnover to fall from 28 percent in 1999 to 16 percent in 2003. The new line of credit is repayable over 15 years, including a four-year moratorium.
ADB first became active in Tunisia in 1968. To date, the group has committed a total of $2.69 on 71 operations, of which $2.08-billion-worth have been disbursed. ¯ (Albawaba-MEBG)
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