Tunisia-Banks Respond to Kais Saied’s Call for Lower Interest Margins
The President of the Republic, Kais Saied, received, this Friday, August 27, 2021, the president of the Tunisian Professional Association of Banks and Financial Institutions (APTBEF), Mohamed Agrebi, his general delegate, Mouna Saïed and his vice-president, Hichem Rebaï.
During the meeting, the head of the state reaffirmed that the rights of businessmen and investors, who uphold the law, are secured.In this context, he recalled that all freedoms are guaranteed in Tunisia.
The Head of State was also notified of the measures taken by the association following the meeting of its officials with the President of the Republic on July 31, 2021 concerning the reduction of interest margins. These measures revolve around the following:
The bank’s engagement to supporting small entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized enterprises with a workforce of no more than 200 workers by applying an interest rate that matches at most the money market rate plus two percentage points on new loans in the short term, excluding overdrafts, for a maximum period of one year, with the purpose of facilitating this category of economic operators to cope with the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, to relaunch their activities and to keep jobs.
The banking and financial sector is committed to assisting to serve the exceptional social assistance funded by the World Bank as part of the battle against the Covid-19 pandemic to their beneficiaries without commissions.
As part of the affirmation of the pursuit of their societal obligations, banks and financial institutions earmark 160 million dinars, or about 2% of the total gross interest received during the year 2020, to support the national community, in particular in the fields of health and education, and reserve, as such, 50 million dinars to make the start of the school year a success.
The President of the Republic expressed his gratitude to all members of the Tunisian Professional Association of Banks and Financial Institutions for their high sense of patriotism and their genuine and fast involvement in the appeal which he addressed to the banking and financial sector, in ashort deadline, by adopting a range of economic and social measures, in these exceptional circumstances that Tunisia is going through.