Par Sadok Rouai*
Not wanting to miss the wave of populism that characterizes economic management in Tunisia today, the BCT has just informed the banks that they must now apply, to loans granted to community companies, a preferential interest rate equivalent to the money market rate (TMM) plus a maximum margin of 1%.(1)
This preferential treatment is added to the long series of financial, tax and land advantages already granted to these companies. The fact that these privileges were introduced successively shows that the difficulties of these societies have their origins in deeper causes. The multiplication of preferential treatment maintains the illusion of effective support and in fact contributes to accentuating the structural weaknesses of this development model.
When the Central Bank replays past mistakes
The BCT’s participation in this policy constitutes a regrettable decision, because it does not take into account its own experience, the lessons learned from the past and the reforms already undertaken to remedy them. Indeed, until the beginning of the 1980s, the distribution of credit by banks was subject to prior authorization from the Central Bank. This set the debit and credit interest rates to be applied and determined the sectors and activities benefiting from preferential conditions. This approach was the norm in most developing countries at the time.
Over time, the BCT became aware of the limits of this system and initiated a series of reforms intended to modernize and make the banking sector more responsible, to liberalize the distribution of credit and the setting of banking conditions. In the same spirit, the Public Treasury had taken charge of subsidizing interest rates for certain activities deemed to be priorities or of a social or regional nature.
The return of the Central Bank to a dirigiste credit policy is no longer out of date. It even appears to be contrary to the provisions of article 42 of its statutes, which stipulate that the circulars issued must comply with international standards in force. The experience of the Central Bank itself has demonstrated that granting preferential conditions to a particular sector inevitably leads banks to pass on the cost of risk to small and medium-sized businesses, whose bargaining power is limited, thus helping to keep the cost of credit high.
Economic dirigisme with boomerang effects
In 2020, the BCT initiated direct financing from the Treasury to meet urgent expenses linked to the Covid-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, this exceptional mechanism has gradually transformed into a regular source of financing for the Treasury: first to cover part of the budget deficit in 2024 and 2025, then to ensure all of it in 2026.
The BCT’s latest decision thus opens a new Pandora’s box. It is legitimate to wonder whether, in the future, the institution will not intervene, following the same logic, to grant similar preferential conditions to other potential beneficiaries – such as small and medium-sized businesses, young graduates who launch start-ups, or even private investors wishing to develop projects in disadvantaged regions.
Tunisia, which is embarking on a new development plan, has no interest in perpetuating the mentality of public assistance nor in repeating the unfortunate experiences of the past.
(1) BCT – Circular to banks n°2025-14 of November 4, 2025 – Setting preferential interest rates applied to loans granted from banks’ own resources for the benefit of community companies
*Former senior executive of the BCT and former advisor to the board of directors of the FM
