Qatar lent Tunisia $500 million in a private placement this week, the Tunisian central bank said on Wednesday, to help government finances recover from last year's uprising. The five-year loan carries an interest rate of 2.5 per cent, the central bank said in a statement. A finance ministry official said last month that Qatar would subscribe to $500 million in five-year Tunisian treasury bonds at 2.5 per cent but did not say when the transaction would be completed. Popular protests ousted veteran Tunisian leader Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali last year but months of unrest, strikes and protests discouraged tourism and hit the economy, which shrank 1.8 percent. The newly-elected government expects the economy to return to growth in 2012 but has sought external support. In addition to the Qatari loan, Tunisia has secured U.S. guarantees for a planned bond issue this year, which should allow it to borrow on international markets at a favourable rate.
