Americas

Americas

U.S. to give 100 million dollars to Tunisia to pay debt

29 March 2012 17:33 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The United States will provide Tunisia with 100 million U.S. dollars to pay off the debt it owes to the World Bank and African Development Bank, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Thursday, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

Clinton said in a statement the money, pending congressional approval, would allow the Tunisian government to "instead use this money for its priority programs, accelerating economic growth and job creation."

She said the United States and Tunisia were also negotiating a loan guarantee agreement which would use 30 million dollars from Washington to open up access to several hundred million dollars in new financing from international capital markets for the government of Tunisia.

Clinton said, as the North African country moved forward with its democratic transition, the United States was working to help it to accelerate economic growth and ensure democracy benefited all Tunisians.

"We call on other partners in the international community to join us in supporting Tunisia and ensuring economic opportunities for more Tunisian people," she said.

In December 2010, anti-government protests broke out in Tunisia following the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi, a 26-year-old street vendor, forcing then president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to flee the country on Jan. 14, 2011, and sparking mass protests in other parts of the Arab world.