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KASBAH (TAP) - A Cabinet meeting Friday looked at a set of financial and development bills.
Secretary-General of the Government and Cabinet Meeting Spokesperson Ahmed Zarrouk said a draft organic law on the Central Bank of Tunisia (BCT) was approved. The proposed legislation is geared towards keeping the bank in line with the requirements of the modern monetary governance.
There are four key points in this bill, Zarrouk said. The first underlines the need to outline clearly the role of the Central Bank of Tunisia as a national and sovereign institution that strives to maintain price stability, face up to inflation and help safeguard financial stability.
The second consists in reinforcing the bank's legal mechanisms, notably the grant of regulatory authority in relation to defined areas including fixing the mandatory reserve of banks.
The third key point pertains to the BCT's structural and functional independence, while the fourth provides for the creation of a body entrusted with issuing recommendations for the renewal of measures which must be taken to contribute to financial stability.
The spokesperson also said other bills were examined and approved, including the one providing for the approval of the guarantee agreement between the Tunisian government and the African Development Bank (AfDB) relating to the loan extended to the electricity and gas utility STEG.
Under this accord, the AfDB will co-finance a project to upgrade the network of natural gas transportation and distribution in 19 municipalities in the governorates of Jendouba, EL Kef, Béja and Siliana.
The total cost of the project amounts to 56.5 million euros (132.2 mln dinars) and the value of the loan is estimated at 49.39 million euros (115 mln dinars).
Besides, the Cabinet meeting looked at and approved a draft law on the adoption of a loan agreement between the Tunisian Government and the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD). The agreement provides for co-funding a 520 mln dinar project that consists in upgrading the network of classified roads and rural networks in a number of governorates.
The FADES will help finance the project to the tune of 325 mln dinars.
The Cabinet meeting likewise gave consent to a draft law which approves a 2013 technical co-operation agreement between the Tunisian Government and its German counterpart.
A German 21-million-euro donation will be made under this agreement, inked last September 11, to fund integrated water resources management projects as part of the development of rural areas, the promotion of sustainable agriculture, decentralisation and the development of skills for top-quality exports.
The meeting also examined and approved a financial co-operation agreement for the year 2013, signed on September 11, 2015, by the Tunisian Government and the German Federal Government.
Tunisia will get, under the terms of this agreement, 128 million euros in funds from Germany's Reconstruction Loan Corporation (KfW) shared out as follows: 121.5 mln euros in loans and 6.5 mln euros in donations so as to finance priority water resources management and energy projects inland.
Several draft government decrees relating to land issues were also okayed; they notably provide for using two plots of land in Mezzouna (governorate of Sidi Bouzid) and El Gtar (governorate of Gafsa) to build a cement factory and a ready-mixed concrete plant respectively.
Additionally, the Cabinet meeting approved two draft decrees pertaining to expropriation in the public interest and an additional one that delineates the composition and prerogatives of the national and local advisory committees tasked with sorting out the situation of land use operators.
The Cabinet meeting was briefed on the security situation in the country and the furtherance of the 2015 State budget implementation.
© Tunis-Afrique Presse 2015
