TUNIS - Tunisia expects its economy to grow by 2.1% in 2024, up from 0.9% in 2023, and plans almost the same subsidies for fuel, electricity and food will raising taxes for banks, hotels and liquor firms, a bill on its budget showed on Tuesday. A temporary tax of 4% on the profits of banks and insurance companies will be imposed in 2024 and 2025, raising the rates paid by banks to nearly 40%. President Saied has long criticised private banks, saying that they make huge profits while they should be trying to help the economy in these delicate times. The government's need for external loans is set to rise in 2024 to 16.4 billion dinars ($5.19 billion) from 10.5 billion in 2023. Its foreign loans include an Algerian loan of $300 million, $400 million from the African Export-Import Bank and $500 million from Saudi Arabia.

Source: The North Africa Journal October 18, 2023 04:27 UTC