Tunisia secures USD 312 mn loan from Arab Monetary Fund as tourism and remittances revenues surge

Tunisia secured a USD 312 mn lifeline from the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF). The loan will be disbursed in three tranches — each maturing within seven years and to be paid over eight bi-annual installments after an initial grace period of 3.5 years. The loan agreement marks a financing milestone for Tunis as it continues to navigate a prolonged fiscal squeeze, with the AMF facility offering longer-tenor support outside the stalled IMF program talks.

A net-energy importer, Tunisia’s fiscal resources have been stretched during 1H due to the regional war, as it grappled with higher commodity and energy import bills, an inflated public sector budget, and rising sovereign borrowing costs — leaving the country with limited options to finance a growing budget deficit. Tunisia entered 2Q with a budget deficit of USD 1.8 bn.

Tourism and remittances growth in 1H saved the day: Despite the regional war headwinds, it wasn’t all doom and gloom for Tunisia. North Africa’s smallest economy saw tourism revenue grow by 4.4% y-o-y to USD 1.1 bn, a promising data point given that it doesn’t cover Tunisia’s peak tourism season in the summer. Remittances also rose 4.5% y-o-y in 5M 2026 to USD 1.2 bn, with estimates that remittances growth could grow as much as 6.7% in 2026.

Another one

Qatar’s UCC Holding enters Libya: Through its Urbacon Energy Libya arm, Qatar-based UCC Holding has signed an exploration and production-sharing agreement with Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) and the Libyan Investment Authority for Area 47 in the Ghadames Basin, near the Algerian border. UCC puts the investment at some USD 1 bn to target roughly 80k bbl / d production. It’s not entirely clear whether the agreement will focus on exploration, improving production in brownfields, or both.

This is UCC’s second entry into a reconstruction market in under a year. The group leads the consortiums rebuilding Damascus International Airport and building 5 GW of Syrian power capacity — the same projects behind a USD 7 bn ADCB-QNB-JPMorgan financing package we flagged earlier this month.

Denied

QIA blocks Iron Dome deal: Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund officially vetoed a Volkswagen joint venture with Israeli defense firm Rafael that would have turned a struggling VW plant in Osnabrück into a production line for Iron Dome mobile air-defense trucks, Bloomberg reports. Reports had emerged last month suggesting the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) — which holds more than 10% of VW’s shares and 17% of its voting rights — had “raised concerns” about the turnaround plan.

For VW, the block costs it a much-needed and long-sought restructuring option and leaves hundreds of Osnabrück jobs in limbo as German automakers lose ground to Chinese rivals.