Interest rates applied to credits granted to the State by banks and some financial institutions, such as insurance companies, are close to 10%, according to data provided by Tunisie Clearing. Credits which are in the form of treasury bonds, and whose repayment deadline is one year, are granted at an interest rate oscillating between 9.20% and 9.21%, while those having a maturity of 5 years are granted at an interest rate varying between 9.84% and 9.86%. The interest rate increases to its maximum level, i.e. a rate of 9.9%, when it comes to credits granted in the form of long-term treasury bonds, with a maturity of 10 years, the same source said. Tunisie Clearing publishes, regularly, in coordination with the Central Bank of Tunisia (BCT) and the Finance Ministry, the level of credits granted to the State by banks and financial institutions, the interest rates applied to them and their repayment schedules. The rate of credits obtained by the State, from banks and the financial system in Tunisia is considered very high, because it exceeds almost twice the rate applied in the United States of America, for example, which contributes to increasing the burden of reimbursing the State’s internal credits, creating pressure on the budget. In return, the goal is to reduce the debt in general, which is confirmed by the Presidency of the Republic, while the outstanding short-term Treasury bills have stabilized in the range of 8.5 billion dinars, according to data revealed, as part of the evaluation of the portfolio of State bonds, while the outstanding long-term equivalent Treasury bonds have stabilized at around 16 billion dinars. Monitoring Treasury bill interest rates started at the end of December 2017, to allow lenders to assess the effectiveness of their financing.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse