IslamicFinance.de

Tunisia has won $1.2 billion in funding from the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), aimed at backing industrial, agricultural and trade projects. The IDB funding line will include loans and grants, and will be for three years, with disbursements of $400 million each year until 2015. The IDB has also given Tunisia a financial guarantee to issue a sukuk worth $600 million before 2014. Tunis is also in talks with Qatar about the Gulf state making a deposit at the Tunisian central bank with easy conditions. The assassination in February of opposition politician Chokri Belaid triggered the worst street violence since the revolution. Elections expected towards the end of this year will create fresh uncertainty. The state budget deficit is expected to rise to around 5.9 percent of gross domestic product this year from 5.1 percent last year.