The Arab Monetary Fund granted new loan deals worth $211 million and $98 million to Morocco and Tunisia to help their reform programs during the coronavirus pandemic.
The increase of the structural adjustment facility in Morocco will boost the country’s public finance sector in the face of current circumstances. Tunisia, meanwhile, will earn $98 million to carry out reforms in its banking and financial sectors.
“The AMF assistance in this regard comes as a support to the reform efforts of member countries and the measures they are taking to stimulate the economy and provide liquidity in order to contain the negative effects of the virus outbreak.” – AMF Statement
The coronavirus pandemic has battered the global economy inching towards a deep recession this year. It has pushed governments to seal their borders, restrict movement and close all but essential industries.
The Abu Dhabi-headquartered fund is currently considering financing requests from other member countries and is facilitating the processing of new loan requests. The AMF said it remained interested to extend “financial and technical support” to its affiliates.
Earlier this month, the multilateral fund provided a loan facility worth $59 million to Tunisia to improve the country’s financial position in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic.
The pandemic has especially hit tourism-dependent nations like Tunisia, which had to shut its borders to restrain the virus. The North African country’s economy is projected to shrink up to 4.3 percent this year, the steepest decline since its independence in 1956 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The fund also extended a loan facility worth $127 million to Morocco in May to support the country overcome the economic fallout from the pandemic.
The AMF is providing loans to numerous countries in the Middle East and North Africa to support them to manage the financial blow from the health crisis. Last month, the organization distributed a $38 million loan to Jordan to boost the country’s economic reforms.
The Arab Monetary Fund was established in 1976 to encourage its member countries to fulfill various economic and financial improvements to increase growth. Its member countries include the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Somalia, Iraq, Oman, Palestine, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Jordan and Egypt.
