VenturesNow

Tunisia to reduce fiscal deficit to 5.5% from 7.7% as austerity measures set in

Published

1 year ago

December 24, 2022

In a push towards austerity measures that is part of the preconditions for an International Monetary Fund rescue package, Tunisia expects to reduce its fiscal deficit to 5.5% next year from a forecast 7.7% this year.

Tunisia’s Economy Ministry said on Friday that economic growth in 2023 would be 1.8%, compared with the 2.5% expected this year. Adding that the country’s external borrowing needs next year will increase by 34% to 16 billion dinars ($5.2 billion) while public debt is expected to rise by 44.4% to 20.7 billion dinars.

Tunisia intends to reduce subsidy expenditure by 26.4% to 8.8 billion dinars. The government is also seeking to raise tax revenue by 12.5% to 40 billion dinars with the rate for some jobs increasing to 19% from 13%.

The ministry said it expects inflationary pressure to continue with the start of the reforms, which the union called “very painful”.

The Tunisian government, had, in the bid to secure the deal in September announced plans to remove subsidies on fuel products, which is one of the preconditions given to it by the IMF before the release of the fund.

The country has also seal a deal with the International Monetary Fund in the coming weeks on a loan of between $2 billion and $4 billion over three years.

VenturesNow

Nigeria wants managers for proposed $10 billion diaspora fund

Published

2 hours ago

April 28, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

A tender paper shows that Nigeria is looking for fund managers for a $10 billion diaspora fund to bring in dollars and foreign investment for the economy.

The fund wants to pool the billions of dollars that its people send back to the country every month so that they can be used for local investments in things like healthcare, education, and infrastructure.

The World Bank says that Nigeria got more than $20 billion in payments from people living outside of Nigeria last year.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade in Nigeria said in a public post that it was looking for “fund managers for the development and establishment of a multisectoral, multilateral private sector-led investment fund to form the $10 billion Nigeria Diaspora Fund.”

The tender paper said that the fund manager’s job is to plan and set up the fund’s legal, operational, financial, and administrative structures.

The investment is intended to last for three to five years, and then more money will be put in after that. The government said the fund would last for 10 years and could be used for an extra two years.

The trade ministry’s tender said that people who want to run the fund must have done business in Nigeria in the last five years and must have a track record of raising money and running big, profitable venture capital funds.

Anglo-American turned down BHP Group’s $39 billion takeover offer on Friday, saying it was way too low for the London-listed company and its future.

In a statement, Minister of Industry and Trade Doris Anite said that it was a “once-in-a-lifetime chance for our citizens in the diaspora to drive Nigeria’s economic growth.”

The naira is under pressure because of a lack of foreign currency because of lower crude oil exports. This has led companies and people to buy dollars on the black market.

Nigeria is going to issue migrant bonds later this year to bring in even more foreign currency.

VenturesNow

World Bank grants Malawi $57.6 million for food crisis

Published

22 hours ago

April 27, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

As a response to its food crisis, the World Bank said on Friday that it would give Malawi $57.6 million in “quick release” grants.

“This support comes in the context of the severe food crisis the country is suffering due to El Niño conditions in the wider southern Africa region,” the World Bank said in a statement.

“A series of intense disaster events over the last few years has left almost no time for the country to recover and has resulted in a severe erosion of food security at the national level.”

Malawi is one of the least developed countries in the world. It is ranked 170 out of 187 countries in the 2010 Human Development Index. Almost 16 million people live there, and 90% of them make less than $2 a day. That’s 53% of the total population.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says that 46,000 children in Malawi are seriously malnourished. In 2023, UNICEF said that more than 500,000 Malawian children were at risk of not getting enough food.

Now, Malawi has a lot of programs in place to deal with things like poverty, and climate change, and to make the business and agriculture more diverse.