The Tunisia parliament passed on 6 August, a law on the recapitalisation of two public banks, namely Société Tunisienne de Banque (STB) and Banque de l’Habitat (BH) for 867 million dinars (about USD 440 million).

The recapitalisation plan was approved by 109 votes for, 10 against and 8 abstentions.

The state should inject 757 million dinars in STB and 110 million dinars in BH.

The Tunisian minister of Finance, Slim Chaker, indicated on this occasion that the difficult financial situation of the public banks could be explained among other things by the loans without collateral issued by these establishments based on instructions coming from the highest authorities under the Ben Ali regime.

Mr Chaker also revealed that the audit of the accounts of the Banque Nationale Agricole (BNA), a third public establishment needing a recapitalisation, has not yet been completed.