The governor of the Central Bank of Tunisia (BCT), Chedly Ayari, announced on 14th September that his country is planning to issue a Eurobond of about USD 500 million benefitting from an American guarantee in order to consolidate the viability of its public finances.

Mr. Ayari clarified that the United States have already given their "agreement in principle" to guarantee this new issuance.

Mr. Ayari also informed that the amount of this new Eurobond has not yet been definitely set, but he estimated that it could be around USD 500 million, indicating that this operation will "in all likelihood" be launched by the end of the year.

The next appearance of Tunisia on the international bond market will the fifth since the Ben Ali regime was toppled in January 2011, after the issuance of a "Samourai" bond on the Japanese market with the backing of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), two other bonds which were done with an American guarantee in 2014 and one Eurobond not guaranteed by another country in January. The order book for this last non-guaranteed Eurobond, which coupon was at 5.875%, exceeded USD 4 billion, for a fixed amount of USD 500 million.

The Tunisian government recently lowered its growth forecasts to 1% in 2015, in part due to the drop in tourist numbers following the deadly attack against a hotel in the Sousse seaside resort.