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Tunisia will run out of petrol supply in one week, Labour Union raises the alarm

Published

2 years ago

October 10, 2022

Tunisia’s national Labour Union, the UGTT, has raised the alarm that the country only has enough petrol to last a week, though the Energy Minister, Naila Nouira, has refuted the claims, saying that a new tanker was unloading and the long queues at fuel stations were caused by a rush of consumers hoarding supply.

The alarm which was raised by a senior official in the oil section of the UGTT Union, Salouan Smiri on Monday, came following weeks of long lines of cars jamming the roads and causing traffic gridlock as motorists had to wait to fill their tanks around Tunis over recent days.

“The shortage of fuel supply may resume if the State does not find enough liquidity to pay for upcoming loads,” Smiri said on a radio programme.

Critics of the government have also blasted the government and see the fuel scarcity as another sign of an unfolding crisis in public finances.

But in a swift response on another radio programme, Nouira blamed the shortage on consumer behaviour and global distribution problems which appeared to acknowledge that payments to importers were contributing to snags in supply.

“The reason for the scarcity of fuel is the rush of people. Many Tunisians are taking more than they need,” she said on the Mosaique FM radio.

“There is financial pressure due to the immediate pace of payment that vendors are asking,” she added.

Nouira said the government hopes to finalise a staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a rescue programme involving potentially unpopular reforms that could unlock further bilateral budget support.

Coupled with the petrol shortage, Tunisia is already facing shortages of some subsidised goods which led to nationwide protests in September, as it seeks an international bailout to finance debt repayments and state spending.

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VenturesNow

IMF mission concludes 4th loan program assessment in Egypt

Published

2 hours ago

November 22, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Following the completion of a recent visit to Egypt, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced that its mission had achieved significant strides in policy talks aimed at concluding the fourth review of the IMF loan program.

The review is the fourth in Egypt’s most recent 46-month IMF loan program, which was authorised in 2022 and increased to $8 billion this year following an economic crisis characterised by high inflation and chronic foreign exchange shortages. It may unleash more than $1.2 billion in financing.

Along with reaffirming its commitment to maintain a flexible exchange rate system, the IMF stated that Egypt “has implemented key reforms to preserve macroeconomic stability,” including the unification of the currency rate that facilitated imports.

Earlier on Wednesday, Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said Cairo has asked the IMF to modify the targets for the programme not only for this year, but for its full duration, he added without giving more details.

“Discussions will continue over the coming days to finalize agreement on the remaining policies and reforms that could support the completion of the fourth review,” the IMF added in its statement.

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Kenya seeks $750m from World Bank, obtains $200m from AfDB— Official

Published

2 days ago

November 20, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The head of debt management for the finance ministry told Reuters that Kenya had obtained a $200 million loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and was negotiating a fresh $750 million loan with the World Bank.

After being forced to abandon proposed tax rises costing more than 346 billion shillings ($2.68 billion) in June due to fatal demonstrations, the East African nation’s administration, which has been grappling with significant debt, has been frantically seeking fresh funding.

The Finance Ministry’s public debt management office director general, Raphael Owino, told Reuters that the IMF’s October clearance of the seventh and eighth reviews, which opened the door for a $606 million loan tranche, had aided the ministry’s talks for more loans.

“The World Bank is coming on board, riding on the back of IMF receipts,” Owino said. “The AfDB is already on board.”

The discussions for more assistance, which came under the World Bank’s “Development Policy Operations” (DPO) with the government, were confirmed by a representative at the organization’s Kenya office.

“The amount of the current (loan) is yet to be determined. The amount will also depend on the implementation of the policy reforms agreed upon,” the spokesperson told Reuters, adding that past DPO loans averaged about $750 million.

In May, the World Bank approved the latest round of DPO loans, totalling $1.2 billion.

According to a statement made last month by Finance Minister John Mbadi, Kenya has set a foreign borrowing goal of 168 billion shillings for the fiscal year ending in June 2025.