Month: October 2016

Ridha Bouguezzi appointed Presidency of Republic’s spokesperson

BGMN

Ridha Bouguezzi has been appointed adviser and spokesperson for the Presidency of the Republic. His appointment was decided by President Beji Caid Essebsi, according to  a press release of the Presidency published Tuesday. Bouguezi was a former newscaster in French language in the Tunisian National TV channel and Director of the Public Radio Station RTCI. He also collaborated with some international media such as Medi 1. He graduated from the Institute of Press and Information Sciences (French: IPSI).  

Draft finance law 2017 upholds tax justice, encourages job creation (Prime Ministry)

BGMN

(TAP) – The draft finance law 2017 “establishes the principle of fair taxation and encourages job creation,” the Prime Ministry said in a document released Monday. The document states that “the 2017 budget is an expansionary budget,” particularly as its volume has increased by 12% in 2016 to 32.58 billion dinars in 2017 against 29.150 billion dinars in 2016. According to the same document, the development expenditure will achieve a qualitative leap (of 5,295 MTD in 2016 to 5,800 MTD in 2017). The revision of tax rates will allow all…

AfDB: strategy for youth employment in Africa aims to create 25 million jobs over 10 years (2016-2025)

BGMN

(TAP) – The Job for Youth in Africa Strategy (SEJA) implemented by the African Development Bank (AfDB) aims to create 25 million jobs over 10 years (2016-2025) and reach 50 million youth indirectly, said on Monday Sunita Pitamber, Director of Human Development within the AfDB, at the Ministerial Conference of North Africa, held in Gammarth. The objective of this conference is to discuss with the ministers concerned with youth employment in the North Africa countries the fast actions that can undertake the AfDB with the concerned authorities to find jobs…

Foreign investments edge down 19.4% compared to 2015 (FIPA)

BGMN

(TAP) – The foreign investments flow reached 1,423.2 million dinars (MTD) in the first nine months of 2016, that is down by 19.4% compared to the same period in 2015 (1,765.6 MTD), with a drop by 49.1% in services, according to the statistics published by the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency (FIPA). These investments are share out between 1,379 MTD of foreign direct investments (FDI) (-2.1% compared to 2015) and 44,2 MTD of investments in portfolio (-87.6% compared to 2015). It appears from the analysis of the sector distribution of FDI…

New York’s bitcoin hub dreams fade with licensing backlog

BGMN

REUTERS – New York’s financial regulator had sights set on becoming a global hub for innovations like bitcoin when it adopted trailblazing virtual currency rules last year. But the state lost that momentum when the agency’s chief left, putting a licensing process in limbo and allowing rivals to catch up. Since June 2015, New York has required virtual currency firms doing business there to get a “BitLicense” to hold customer funds and exchange virtual coins for dollars and other regular currencies. Benjamin Lawsky headed the Department of Financial Services (DFS)…

Iraqi forces resume offensive towards eastern Mosul

BGMN

REUTERS – Iraqi troops resumed on Monday a coordinated offensive towards Mosul, the last major city held by Islamic State, targeting the eastern bank of the Tigris river that divides the city, military officials said. The army’s counter-terrorism unit had paused its advance last week after it made ground quicker than forces on other fronts, to allow them to close the gap and get nearer to the city. Iraqi security forces and Kurdish Peshmerga fighters started the offensive on Oct. 17, with air and ground support from the U.S.-led coalition…

Tunisia-EU first summit :Federica Mogherini visits Tunisia November 1st

BGMN

High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission Federica Mogherini will travel to Tunisia on Monday 1 November. The visit to Tunis comes just after the adoption of the Joint Communication for strengthening the European Union’s support to Tunisia’s democratic transition and to promoting the country socio-economic development. The HRVP will meet with Beji Caïd Essebsi, President of the Republic, Youssef Chahed, Prime Minister,  Khemaies Jhinaoui, Minister for Foreign Affairs, other members of government, as well as representatives of young leaders’ associations. She will then participate at the…

Bob Dylan Breaks Silence on His Nobel Prize: ‘It’s Hard to Believe’

BGMN

After 15 days of an apparent silent treatment, Bob Dylan has made his first public statements about winning the Nobel Prize for Literature. “It’s hard to believe, amazing, incredible. Whoever dreams about something like that?” Dylan told The Telegraph in his first interview since the Swedish Academy announced the honor on Oct. 13. Dylan was recognized for “having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.” The award briefly got some airtime on his website before it was quickly removed, and the musician famously shuns media, but he…

“Crédit Agricole” expects growth rate in Tunisia to reach 2.2% in 2017

BGMN

(TAP) – “Crédit Agricole”, the French full-service banking group, Friday predicted Tunisia’s growth rate will rise to 2.2% in 2017 and 1.6% in 2016 up from 0.8% in 2015. Inflation is projected to stand at 4.4% during the current year and 4.2% in 2017 against 4.9% in 2015, Crédit Agricole said in its weekly newsletter on emerging countries. The current account deficit is expected to hover around -8.5% of the GDP in 2016 and -7.5% in 2017 in comparison with -9.4% in 2015.

New earthquake rocks Italy, buildings collapse but no deaths reported

BGMN

A powerful earthquake struck Italy on Sunday in the same central regions that have been rocked by repeated tremors over the past two months, with more homes and churches brought down but no deaths reported. The quake, which measured 6.6 according to the U.S. Geological Survey, was bigger than one on Aug. 24 that killed almost 300 people. Many people have fled the area since then, helping to avoid a new devastating death toll. With thousands already made homeless, a leading seismologist warned that the earthquakes could go on for…