Maghreb amid World’s Lowest Performing Trading Blocs – WEF

More than 25 years after its creation, the Maghreb Union, an economic bloc comprising Morocco, Mauritania, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya finds itself in a state of paralysis unable of tapping into its economic and trade potential, said the World Economic Forum (WEF) in a recent publication on the region. “The Maghreb, in Northern Africa, is the perfect example of a region whose countries have been unable to find their way to a deeper integration,” said the WEF in an article signed by Wadia Ait Hamza, who deemed that “the Maghreb…

Tunisia PM warns anti-corruption fight is firm

Tunisian Prime Minister Youssef Chahed has warned that no one would be spared in the government’s massive anti-corruption fight. “We aim to tear down the systems of corruption,” Chahed said Sunday, vowing that in coordination with Tunisia’s President Beji Caid Essebsi “no one will be protected in this war against corruption.” The premier rejected allegations that the government launched a crackdown in response to increasing protests south of the country. “I hear some people say this is just a campaign, but it’s not — it is state policy… Corruption in our…

Tunisia: increasing contributions to economy boost money supply

The money supply (M3) increased by 7.6% year-on-year at the end of April 2017, compared to 5.6% in March 2016 and 5.8% a year earlier, according to the report of the Central Bank of Tunisia (BCT) on the monetary and cyclical developments published in the month of May 2017. This improvement mainly reflects the acceleration of the contributions to the economy (+ 9.8% in April 2017, compared to + 7.4% a year ago) and the recovery of net claims on the outside (+547 MD against -4,085 MT, during the same…

Another sorrowful test for the unity of Tunisians against terrorism

The killing of khelifa Soltani, the brother of Mabrouk Soltani, beheaded in the same awful and terrible way, stole our calm and reassurance in this weekend. The terrorists who carried out the murder chose a symbol when they were plotting their crime to target another member of the same family with this cruelty and atrocity.  Our sorrows and pains are tremendous when we saw the mother of the two martyred victims speaks on the Tunisian TV, crying with sadness and indescribable agony. I felt what happened to this woman is…