COVID-19: Digital solidarity vouchers to needy Tunisians

Tunisian NGO “Banque alimentaire durable” has launched a new initiative to assist needy families in Tunis as the containment decreed on 22 March to fight the spread of the coronavirus in Tunisia has affected thousands of households, which lost their source of income. The NGO selected 300 families living in the poor neighbourhoods of Tunis and sent them via cell phones an SMS code for vouchers to help them purchase commodities a week at nearby grocery stores. The NGO, which launched the initiative at the beginning of Ramadan, hopes to…

Fitch Downgrades Tunisia to ‘B’; Outlook Stable

Fitch Ratings has downgraded Tunisia’s Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to ‘B’ from ‘B+’. The Outlook is Stable, Fitch Ratings reported Tuesday. The downgrade reflects the aggravation in Tunisia’s persistent macroeconomic imbalances and deterioration in external and public debt trajectories due to economic disruptions from the coronavirus pandemic shock. Tunisia’s economy will witness its sharpest contraction on record in 2020 while the current account deficit (CAD) will fail to narrow amid a temporary halt in fiscal consolidation, prompting a further significant rise in net external debt (NXD) and general…