Tunis/Tunisia — An agreement on a set of realistic and acceptable reforms could be concluded with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) before the end of the first quarter (Q1) of 2022, Governor of the Central Bank of Tunisia (BCT) Marouane Abassi said on Thursday evening.

Taking the floor at the 35th edition of Business Days, organised on December 9-11 in Sousse under the theme: "Business and Republic: Partners in Reconstruction," Abassi said that "Tunisia will not resort to the Paris club and will honour its foreign commitments," pointing to the possibility to have recourse to Special Drawing rights (SDRs) and financial funds.

 
"The BCT and the government are working jointly on a daily basis to present a Tunisian project to the IMF," he specified.

 
Abassi considered that Tunisia has shown a lot of resilience during the last period, which was marred by major political upheavals, pointing out that the Tunisian authorities have managed to cover the financing needs during the eleven months of 2021, contrary to the experts' forecasts.

The government will pursue these efforts, especially as foreign exchange reserves currently cover 120 days of imports, he emphasised, adding that it will be a matter of sending positive messages to investors in order to get the economy rolling again.

He estimated in the same vein, that the improvement of the Tunisian dinar is the responsibility of all stakeholders, calling to this end for the need to provide a conducive investment climate and to encourage the export and consumption of local products.