Month: June 2024

Tunis: The average money market rate (MMR) stabilised at 7.97% in May 2024 for the second consecutive month, up very slightly compared with March 2024 (7.96%), according to data released on Friday evening by the Central Bank of Tunisia (BCT).

The MMR fell year-on-year from 8% in May 2023 to 7.97% in May 2024.

After peaking at 8.05% in March 2023, the MMR took a downward trend from April 2023, from 8.01% to 8% in the period between May and September 2023 before settling at 7.99% in the last quarter of 2023.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Tunis: The Finance Ministry announced the launch of a tax data transfer and exchange platform called ‘Tej,’ designed to ensure the digital archiving of tax and accounting documents (withholding tax certificates, employer’s declaration, tax package, etc.).

The goal is to improve the reliability of cross-checking by the tax authorities and ensure transparency between the authorities and taxpayers.

The Ministry called in a press release, on taxpayers under the jurisdiction of the Large Business Directorate (DGE) and the Medium Business Directorate (DME), as well as accountancy professionals and tax advisers, to sign up to this digital platform in order to draw up withholding tax certificates, which will be issued from June 1.

This platform was created in compliance with Article 41 of the 2022 Finance Law, which amended Article 55 of the Personal Income Tax and Corporation Tax Code.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Tunis: Financial cooperation programmes for 2024 and development projects co-funded by the World Bank (WB) took centre stage at a meeting held Friday between Economy and Planning Minister Feriel Ouerghi and WB’s Country Director for the Maghreb and Malta Jesko Hentschel.

Progress on the ‘Kasserine/Sidi Bouzid/Sfax Economic Development Corridor’ project, co-financed by the World Bank and aimed at narrowing regional economic disparities by improving the quality of road transport and facilitating access to finance for SMEs along the corridor, was reviewed at the meeting.

The project ‘will spur economic growth and development in the target regions, particularly as it will provide a developed infrastructure that will encourage investment and hence the creation of projects in the areas along the road targeted by the dual carriageway,” reads a ministry press release.

The meeting further helped review the Amen Solid Social Safety Net Programme, also co-funded by the WB, and several other cooperation programmes to
improve food and social security.

The Ministry said that projects in several strategic sectors, including electricity, water, higher education, health, social protection and food security, will be presented to the WB for funding.

Speaking on this occasion, the WB official “reiterated the WB’s commitment to keep on supporting Tunisia in implementing its priority reform and development projects, meet the current challenges and achieve a comprehensive and sustainable development.”

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Tunis: Tunisia ranked 104th (out of 125 countries) in the Open Budget Survey 2023 released last May 29. The OBS ranks countries according to their performance across the three pillars of accountability in national budget processes. It is the world’s only comparative, independent and regular assessment of public participation, oversight, and transparency in national budgets in 125 countries.

Tunisia received a score of 26 points, dropping 26 points and 33 spots in international rankings in comparison with the 2021 report.

Tunisia took the 6th spot in the Arab region behind Jordan, Morocco, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon down from the second position in 2013-2015.

This is the result of failure to publish the 2023 finance bill before its promulgation by the Presidency of the Republic and the temporary absence of the legislative institution in the period covered by the survey, given the key role of this institution in the budgetary process according to international standards of open budget.

The methodology
used by the International Budget Partnership (IBP) to calculate the Open Budget Index is based on a set of quantitative parameters that are determined by international standards- notably those adopted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Global Initiative for Fiscal Transparency (GIFT) and the World Bank- to assess the public availability of a country’s eight key budget documents: executive’s budget proposal, pre-budget statement, enacted budget, in-year reports, mid-year review, year-end report, audit report and the Citizen’s Budget.

The report also outlines a number of shortcomings in Tunisia’s budget transparency, namely failure to release the guidance note of the State budget and the half-year report of the budget implementation, the delay in publishing the report of the Audit Court on the the budget review act and the absence of details on the implementation of programmes and projects in monthly budget implementation reports.

Concurrently with the Open Budget Index
(OBI), the report provides a participation score that is the degree to which each of the executive, the legislature, and the supreme audit institution provides opportunities for the public to engage during different cycles of the budget process.

Tunisia ranked third in the Arab region with 4 points out of 100, behind Egypt and Morocco, down 10 points on 2021 rankings. This unearthed several challenges for Tunisia, including citizen or civil society engagement in budget preparation and strengthening the role of regulatory and support agencies, particularly the National Taxation Board which role remained formal.

The report recommends that the Audit Court’s report on the budget review law be published bearing in mind that the last one covered the year 2020, along with the guidance note of the 2025 State budget and the six-monthly report for 2024, in line with international standards.

Additional recommendations are mainly including information on the furtherance of State projects and programmes in monthly and
annual reports on the budget implementation and making more space and opportunities available for civil society so that it can attend meetings of parliamentary committees.

Tunisia needs to adopt innovative mechanisms, such as citizen participation platforms which fosters involvement in the process of drafting the budget and following up its implementation. It is also advisable to put in place similar mechanisms in the Audit Court to help external experts and civil society take an active part in developing the court’s action plan and in audits and activate the role of the National taxation Board while supporting its independence and impartiality and providing it with needed resources for conducting studies and drafting reports.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Tunis: The 11th edition of the online stock market challenge “Myinvestia” closed on May 31, 2024 with 23,127 participants, announced the Tunis Stock Exchange (TSE).

Launched on October 2, 2023, “Myinvestia” is an online stock market simulation game organised by the TSE.

It aims to popularise the operating principles of the stock market and to introduce participants to the management of stock market portfolios in conditions close to the market.

Risk-free, free and open to all, the game offers participants a unique stock market investment experience with a virtual starting capital of 50,000 dinars. They can then build a portfolio of shares in companies listed on the Tunis Stock Exchange, valued at real market prices.

At the end of the challenge, participantS will have the opportunity to win one of the 4 prizes offered to the holders of the six best portfolios, who will receive, in order, TND 3,000, 2,000, 1,000 and 500.

The Tunis Stock Exchange has also announced that the prize-giving ceremony for the hold
ers of the four portfolios with the best returns will take place shortly.

The launch date for the 12th edition of Myinvestia will be announced at a later date.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Tunis: The Confederation of Tunisian Citizen Enterprises (CONECT) has launched a series of workshops entitled ‘les Jeudis RSE’ (CSR Thursdays) to raise awareness and prepare exporting companies for the requirements of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and to guide them towards Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) certification.

These workshops, aimed at company directors and their staff responsible for the CSR approach, provide an essential learning and exchange environment.

By adopting CSR, companies commit to high standards of social and environmental responsibility, promote sustainable development, strengthen their reputation and build customer loyalty, while creating long-term value for all their stakeholders.

These sessions will provide practical tools and knowledge to improve the social and environmental performance of companies, enabling them to respond to current and future challenges while enhancing their competitiveness in the global marketplace.

The workshops will be held on June 6
, 2024 in Tunis, June 13 in Sousse, June 20 in Sfax and June 27 in Bizerte.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Tunis: The Association ‘Les Amis des Oiseaux’ (AAO/BirdLife Tunisia) and its partners will launch on June 3 the national census of the White Stork breeding population in Tunisia during an information and training workshop at the National Genebank of Tunisia in Tunis.

This edition of the census, called ‘TunStorkCensus2024’, will allow expert observers and citizens alike to participate in the census by reporting stork nests and their occupants to the AAO/Birdlife Tunisia via a digital platform.

The aim is also to collect relevant data on the location of nests and certain risks, such as electrocution or the presence of plastic in nests, in order to help protect this heritage species.

This monitoring is part of the International White Stork Census, in which Tunisia has already participated in 1998/99, 2004 and 2014/15. It is supported by a number of national institutions and organisations, including the Ministries of Environment and Youth, the General Directorate of Forests and local NGOs.

Financial support i
s provided by the IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation, the Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABI, Birdlife’s partner in Germany), WWF North Africa, the consultancy firm ‘Environnemental Assessment and Management’ and the ‘Société Hôtelière et Touristique du Nord-Ouest’.

This support made it possible to set up the digital platform, train observers and provide the logistics for a 10-day field mission to visit all the governorates with stork nests.

The last international White Stork decennial census, in 2014/15, revealed a global population of 265,000 to 280,000 nesting pairs in Eurasia and North Africa.

At that time, the population in Western Europe and North Africa increased by an average of 38% compared to the previous year.

Tunisia has also seen a marked increase in the species. Since 1999, when 358 occupied nests were counted, there were more than 1,000 breeding pairs in 2014/15.

In 2022, the ‘Etude d’élaboration de la liste rouge des espèces menacées en Tunisie: Avifaune et Flore’, co
ordinated by the Ministry of the Environment, estimated the Tunisian White Stork population at 1,000-1,200 pairs or 2,000-2,400 adult birds.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Tunis: The debts of the Tunisian steel company “El Fouladh” increased to 580 million dinars (MD) in 2022, bringing the deficit in the company’s own funds to 339 MD, according to the company’s annual report published by the Tunis Stock Exchange.

In 2022, the company failed to meet its obligations to the National Social Security Fund (CNSS). This concerns the principal of the debt (53 MD) and fines of almost 65 MD, covering the period from the fourth quarter of 2013 to the fourth quarter of 2022.

“El Fouladh has also failed to reimburse a number of suppliers, most notably the Tunisian Electricity and Gas Company (STEG), for MD 125.

The report notes that “these indicators and the delay in the implementation of the company’s financial recovery programme are likely to call into question the assumption of continued operation, which has been the basic assumption in the preparation and presentation of these financial statements.

“This situation requires a decision to be taken by the Extraordinary General Meeting
to review the continuation of the company’s activities in accordance with the provisions of Article 388 of the Commercial Companies Code,” the document continues.

“The report shows that the tangible and intangible fixed assets, which amounted to approximately 266 MD at the end of 2022, recorded consumption and reserves of approximately 252 MD, for a net amount of 13.8 MD.

It is necessary to resolve the real estate situation of part of the company’s assets and to create reserves for the removal of the furnace, after carrying out the necessary studies to assess the cost of removal.

EL FOULADH, a public limited company set up in 1962 with a capital of almost 53 MD, specialises in the manufacture of steel products such as concrete rods, merchant bars, drawn wires and metal structures.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse