Italy-Tunisia: 73 million in credit for Tunisian SMEs

ROME, Italy, December 13, 2011/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- Ambassador of Italy to Tunisia Pietro Benassi and Tunisian Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Khemaies Jhinaoui signed a protocol agreement today in Tunis for a 73 million-euro credit line for SMEs in Tunisia, to which the Italian government agreed to make a large donation. Through this agreement a portion of the financing in the local currency can be used, for the first time, to finance the rotating fund and debt restructuring, once the financial need of the Tunisian applicant firm has been established. Additionally, the credit line offers more advantageous interest rates to businesses. Such lines of credit, amounting to date to approximately €200 million, have encouraged the creation of thousands of jobs, along with the technological upgrade of approximately 500 firms with Italian-made machinery.