Tunisia coping well with global slowdown (IMF )

"Tunisia is relatively well positioned to withstand the international economic crisis owing to the reforms it has undertaken in recent years and its prudent macroeconomic policies, especially in the fiscal and monetary areas," the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in a statement released on Monday, following the mission of a high- level IMF delegation to Tunisia last week.

The statement adds that a "GDP growth target of 3 percent in 2009 could be achieved if recovery measures rapidly impact demand." "The Tunisian financial sector has not been directly affected by the international crisis. The authorities have continued their long-term strategy of reinforcing the banking sector, which has led to a decline in the ratio of non-performing loans to total loans from 17.6 percent in 2007 to 15.5 percent in 2008 and an increase in the provisioning ratio from 53.2 percent in 2007 to 56.8 percent in 2008. The authorities intend to continue this effort even after they reach their targets of 15 percent and 70 percent, respectively" says the statement.