Set by presidential decree: Thresholds for excessive interest rates have not been issued since January

A decree-law, signed by President Kais Saied, addressing excessive interest rates and published in the JORT on October 21, 2022, has yet to be enforced, despite its significance and innovative approach to financing management rules.

The reason behind the non-application of this presidential decree remains unknown. Meanwhile, customers of financial institutions continue to bear the financial charges associated with interest rates on their financing.

Remarkably, the decree outlining average effective interest rates and corresponding excessive interest rate thresholds for the second half of the current year, which is coming to an end, has not been published to date.

This situation remains unclear, allowing interest rates to be charged with potential abuses, creating a regulatory vacuum. This is particularly concerning given the existence of a presidential decree that has remained unapplied for a year.

It’s worth noting that the last decree concerning effective interest rates and their excessive threshold was issued on January 24, 2023. Presidential Decree No. 2022-67, signed on October 19, 2022, modified and supplemented Law No. 99-64 of July 15, 1999, focusing on setting the margin applied to average effective interest rates, revising fines stipulated by existing regulations, and adapting specific terms used in the context of Islamic finance.