The House of People’s Representatives (ARP) started, on Tuesday, the examination of a bill relating to the approval of the guarantee agreement and the Murabaha agreement concluded between the Tunisian Chemical Group (GCT) and the Islamic Development Bank (IDB).
The US$ 50 million (about 136 million dinars) Murabaha financing with the guarantee of the Tunisian State will be repaid over a period of one year from the date of the first disbursement.
It aims to contribute to the financing of the group’s supply of raw materials (phosphate, sulphur, ammonia or other chemical products).
The Finance, Planning and Development Committee unanimously rejected this bill during its meeting held on May 25, 2021, hence its referral to the plenary.
The members of the Finance Committee considered that the recourse of the GCT to the import of raw materials is dependent on its low supply of the necessary quantities of phosphate by the Gafsa Phosphate Company (CPG), due to the drop in national production of 88%, in January and February 2021.
The members expressed their astonishment at the reluctance of local banks to finance public institutions such as the GCT, which found itself obliged to request credit from abroad on abusive terms.
The estimated needs of the GCT in raw materials amounted to about 190 million dollars (about 516 million dinars), during the year 2020.
The document of the Finance Committee forecasts that the group’s needs in raw materials (phosphate, sulphur and ammonia) will exceed 521 million dollars (about 1416 million dinars) in 2021.

Source: TAP News Agency