Tunis, Tunisia– The European Union has agreed to give Tunisia 150 million euros to support the government’s efforts to undertake economic recovery, the EU commission and the Tunisian foreign ministry announced Wednesday.
A joint statement said the funds amounting to around $164.3 million “aims to support the efforts undertaken by the Tunisian government to promote the recovery of the economy” through “the improvement of the management of public finances”.
The aid is part of a partnership agreement reached between the two countries in Tunis on July 16, which included a 105 million euros to curb irregular migration.
Tunisia, which devotes a good part of its resources to repaying a crippling debt of around 80 percent of its GDP, is in dire need of aid to import subsidized products such as milk, flour and rice amid shortages.
The press release said the 150-million aid will consist of a “direct financial transfer to the Tunisian public treasury”.
In October, a dispute broke out between Brussels and Tunis, which had returned 60 million euros of aid to the EU, an unprecedented move for a partner country, according to Brussels.
Tunisian President Kais Saied said at the time he rejected the EU’s “charity”.
Saied said the funds had been sent to Tunis “without the Tunisian authorities having been informed in advance”, and denounced what he described as an “attack on the dignity” of his country.