Tunisia Central Bank Governor Disputes S&P, Says Growth ‘Not Collapsing’ - Bloomberg

Tunisia’s central bank governor disputed Standard & Poor’s negative assessment of the country’s economic outlook, saying growth “is not collapsing” after the toppling of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January.

“The capacity of Tunisia to reimburse its debt is much stronger than it was six months ago,” Mustapha Kamel Nabli said today in an interview in his office in the North African nation’s capital, Tunis. “The political track is well defined; the economy has a low growth rate but the fundamentals continue to be strong.”

He spoke in response to questions about the downgrade yesterday by Standard & Poor of Tunisia’s outlook to negative from stable on concern a prolonged political transition may lead to a drag on growth and public finances. S&P kept the country’s foreign currency rating at BBB-, the lowest investment grade.

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