Tunisia clears its last eurobond, and the reserves show what it cost
The 700-million-euro bond Tunisia raised in 2019 at 6.375 percent over seven years matured on 15 July and was repaid in full, principal and final coupon together. Foreign currency reserves slipped in the days that followed to about 91 days of imports, a fall the economist Moez Soussi called worrying but not critical, arguing that paying on time preserves the sovereign's standing and that tourism receipts and diaspora transfers should rebuild the cushion over the summer. The economist Moktar Lamari draws the other lesson: at 6.375 percent the money cost several times what concessional IMF lending would have, and Tunisia borrowed commercially precisely to avoid the conditions attached: a trade-off it must now make again with no programme in place.