(Agencies) - On Wednesday, April 06, 2022, the Tunisian Minister of Economy and Planning Samir Saied and the World Bank Country Manager for Tunisia, Alexandre Arrobio, and in the presence of the Minister of Social Affairs Malek Zahi, signed a financing agreement for the ‘Tunisia COVID-19 Social Protection Emergency Response Support Project’ with the value of US$400 million (about 1160 million tunisian dinars).

This agreement aims to help about 900.000 vulnerable Tunisian households to cope with the health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 crisis.

This additional financing will continue to provide cash transfers to poor and low-income households, while strengthening Tunisia’s social protection system. The main purpose is to scale up assistance provided under the parent project to mitigate the medium- and long-term impact of the pandemic and to reinforce resilience to future shocks.

Alexandre Arrobbio said: “This additional financing supports Tunisia’s response to the impact of the health crisis as well as its plan to build a more effective and adaptive safety net system for vulnerable populations by supporting the country’s efforts to improve their living conditions."