Tunisia is about to request from the U.S a $500 million loan guarantee, according to one of the country’s high officials cited by Reuters.

This guarantee which would be the fourth of its kind, comes as Tunisia plans to, next year, go to the international capital market. Indeed, in 2018, the country will need about 7.4 billion Tunisian dinars ($3 billion) of foreign loans. Out of this sum, 1.4 billion dinars must be secured from the bond market.

Let’s recall that the total value of loan guarantees granted to Tunisia by Washington, since the Jasmin revolution, in 2011, is about $1.5 billion. The first guarantee provided in 2012 was for $485 million while the second, in 2015, was for $500 million. In June 2016, the White House agreed to another guarantee for $500 million.

Fiacre E. Kakpo