“Commitments made since the opening of subscription to the 1st tranche of the national bond have totalled TND 530 million, or 150% of value of this bond loan (TND 350 million),” said Maher Zouari, the Director General of Tunisie Clearing which is in charge of keeping subscribers’ registers.
Subscriptions to the first amount of the 2022 national bond loan, stipulated by the 2022 Finance Law, worth 1.4 billion dinars, began on March 3, 2022 and will continue until March 16. 2022 (included).
At a press conference held Monday at the Tunis Stock Exchange, Director General of Debt Management and Financial Cooperation at the Finance Ministry Kaouther Babia confirmed that the subscription to the first amount of this loan of a minimum value of 350 MD, recorded a large influx during the first days of subscription, reporting a total of commitments exceeding 500 MD.
This bond issue, launched on advantageous terms, aims to cover all budgetary expenditure, in terms of subsidies, investment and salaries, as well as debt servicing.”
“This 1.4-billion-dinar loan represents a share of the funding provided for by the government to fund the State budget, the total amount of which stands at 7.3 billion dinars”, she recalled.
“Thus, for the subscription to this loan, individuals contribute through category A (nominal value of 10 dinars per bond), which represents a small amount allowing all social categories to participate, all the more so that this solidarity contribution to the national effort is profitable both for the State and for the subscribing citizens, particularly with a return of 8.8%”.
“Tunisians wishing to participate in this loan could contact all stock market brokers as well as all public or private banks which will assist them with the subscription”.
At another level, Babia reassured that “Tunisia is a solvent country with donors, given that it has never missed a deadline to repay its debts contracted either on the local market or on the foreign market, ” specifying that “Tunisia always fulfills its financial commitments, even during times of crisis, because the repaying its debts is a priority for the country”.
The official added that the Finance Ministry is currently considering the launch of a bond loan in foreign currency, intended for the diaspora, which should be launched in 2022. This loan, which will be repaid in foreign currency, is currently subject to reviewing legislative texts so as to provide all the conditions for its success.
President of the Association of Stock Exchange Intermediaries (AIB), Dalenda Bayou reiterated the AIB’s appeal to citizens and businesses to subscribe to the 2022 national loan, especially since it is an investment with an attractive return.
She said the launch of a bond loan must be registered each year in the State budget, and will therefore be one of the local funding mechanisms, noting that the AIB will ask to integrate, in the 2023 Finance Act, more incentives for individuals, particularly in terms of taxation.
For the official, the contribution of individuals to the subscription to the national bond loan also constitutes a mechanism of revitalising the secondary market of the stock exchange.
Subscriptions and repayment of the loan will be made in Tunisian dinar, with stock market brokers and banks. The securities of this loan are negotiable on the Tunis Stock Exchange.
The characteristics and conditions of issue of the first amount of the national loan are governed by an order of the Finance Minister of February 18, 2022, according to which the subscription can be made according to the choice of the subscriber, in three categories A, B and C.
There are three types of bonds A, B and C, among which the subscriber will have to choose. The repayment period varies between 5 and 10 years, depending on the category and the face value of each bond, which was set at 10 dinars for category A, with a fixed interest rate of 8.8% per annum or a variable rate (Money market rate MMR) published by the BCT, plus 2.40% gross per year).
For the type B bond (100 dinars), the fixed interest rate is 8.90% per year, and the variable one is equal to the MMR plus 2.50% gross per year.
For the Class C bond (100 D), the interest rate is 9.10% per annum, and the variable one is the MMR plus 2.65% gross per annum.
