The World Bank will grant Tunisia $35 million for the fight against COVID-19 and to support the health ministry.
The WB said in a statement that $20 million of the aid package is earmarked to bolster the capacity of the health system in a bid to support Tunisia’s efforts in stemming COVID-19 which has infected 994 people and caused the death of 41 others.
The remaining $15 million makes up a previous support credit allocated early last month as part of COVID-19 accelerated mechanism, the bank said.
The WB also revealed that it will allocate to Tunisia an additional $100 million to fund welfare benefits as well as grants to Small and Medium size Enterprises (SMEs).
Tunisia last month forecast 4.3 per cent recession and reduced of the national budget owing to the pandemic. It also projected a $1.4 billion loss in the tourism sector (the second largest GDP contributor) including the loss of 400,000 jobs.
TunisianMonitorOnline
