Coronavirus: Tunisia opens US$172 million credit line for hotel sector

21 Mai 2020

Tunis, Tunisia, May 21 (Infosplusgabon) – The Tunisian minister of Tourism and Craft Industry, Mohamed Ali Toumi, on Wednesday announced a credit of 500 million dinars (about 172 million dollars) to enable hotels affected by the COVID-19 pandemic to pay the salaries of workers and preserve jobs.

In a news conference, the minister listed a series of measures aimed at restarting the tourism and craft industry sector which is among the most affected by the coronavirus pandemic following the closure of all borders.

The losses of the Tunisian tourism sector are estimated at some six billion dinars, or more than two billion dollars.

According to Mr Toumi, companies which will benefit from the credit are that those whose turnover recorded a drop by 25% in March 2020 compared to 2019, and a drop by at least 40% in April.

In addition, the measure affects only hotels classified 1 to 3 stars. For 4-star hotels, the minister will examine their situation case by case, except for 5-star hotels.

This credit line, which will be opened until March 2021, will have an interest rate of 2%, two years grace period and repayment over seven years, he said.

The Tourism minister said that a commission that includes representatives of the ministry of Finance, the Tunisian Central Bank (BCT) and the Tunisian Guarantee Company (SOTUGAR) will carry out the monitoring of the measures.

In this context, he highlighted the contribution of the hotel industry in the fight against the epidemic, noting that 71 of them have opened their doors for free during the confinement period with 11,000 rooms in addition to means of transport and meals for security, medical and paramedical staff.

He said that the resumption of the tourist sector is linked to the progressive easing of the lockdown, considering that the key of the government is to protect this vital sector which provides about 400,000 direct and indirect jobs and represents one of the main providers foreign exchange for the government with more than five billion dinars (1.73 billion dollars) in receipts last year.

He plans to reopen travel agencies and restaurants closed since the beginning of the pandemic during the second period of targeted confinement between 24 May and 4 June, instead of the third phase.

FIN/ INFOSPLUSGABON/ERD/GABON2020

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