11 November 2009
Tunis — President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali chaired, on Tuesday morning, a cabinet meeting.
As part of consolidating Tunisian business fabric, the cabinet looked at a draft law providing for extending the duration of the cyclical support measures to economic enterprises to help them carry on their activities; such measures have benefitted to over 70,000 workers.
The draft law aims also to widen the range of loan brackets pertaining to the measure regarding the State's shouldering the differential between the interest rate of the rescheduling loan and the average rate of the monetary market up to two points, so as to include due loan brackets or those to be due during the period between October 1st, 2008, and June 30, 2010.
The cabinet, then, examined a bill stipulating approval of the amendment to the International Monetary Fund (IMF)'s statutes to reform the quota system in this institution's capital, taking into consideration the emerging countries' weight in the world economy and reinforcing their representation within the Fund's structures, so that these countries be able to participate more efficiently in the decision-making process. The cabinet also looked at a draft budget pertaining to the execution of the second part of the fourth cleaning-up project of the low-income districts and rural localities.
This bill is part of the programme the National Cleanliness Office (ONAS) is achieving as part of the 11th Development Plan to increase connection rate to the purification network, to protect environment and water resources against pollution risks and improve living conditions for some 260,000 inhabitants shared out between 196 low-income districts and 13 rural areas, in 91 municipalities and in 24 governorates.
The cabinet looked also at two bills: the first regards building of a power station of 400 megawatt-combined circuit in Ghannouche station; the second project aims to develop the electricity networks over the whole national territory, in order to meet all the energy needs.
The cabinet listened to an exposé on last October 25 presidential and legislative elections and their various stages from start to voting day, and on the favourable conditions and serenity that had prevailed during these elections, in matters of respect of the law, transparency and the administration's neutrality.
The exposé also underscored the results that came out of these elections and which consecrate pluralism and democracy of the national political system.
Besides, the cabinet listened to a briefing on the country's health situation and on the prevention and precautionary measures taken to protect the citizens' health and safety.
Then, the cabinet listened to a presentation on the Tunisian Solidarity Bank (BTS)'s interventions. It appears from the report that the Bank had approved, during the last ten months of 2009, the financing of 9,405 credits worth an amount estimated at more than 119 million dinars; these projects should generate more than 17,000 new jobs for the benefit of higher-education graduates, as well as extend a number of already set up projects.
In another connection, all micro-credits granted during the first ten months of 2009 reached 48,822 credits worth a total amount of 50.4 million dinars. The number of associations authorised to grant these credits, at the end of March 2009, went up to 282 associations.
The latter granted 406,494 credits since the start of this system's operation, for an amount worth 350.8 million dinars.
The meeting was then briefed on the employment situation during the first ten months of this year, on the basis of data provided by the Employment and Self-Employment Office. It appears from this exposé that the labour market has retrieved its vitality after the hardships it had encountered as a result of the fall-out of the world economic crisis.
In fact, the number of integrated job applicants recorded a 3.4-per-cent rise during the period between last May and October: 42,500 higher-education graduates benefitted either from a job, a training term or qualification for a training session, including 9,200 higher graduates who remained more than three years jobless.
The Head of State recommended to establish a tighter co- ordination among the concerned structures to materialise the orientation contained in his 2009-2014 electoral programme, notably the topic "not a single Tunisian family without a job or without an income source for at least one of its members," underscoring the need to ensure better guidance and greater attention and care to the children of low-income families and those classes with specific needs, in order to make their integration into professional life easier.
Then, the meeting listened to a briefing on the agricultural situation which highlighted the results in some sectors, reviewing notably the important rainfalls which accompanied the start of the present agricultural campaign, as well as the quantities of retained water in large dams which rose, by early November, to 1 billion 464 million cubic meters.
Besides, the exposé reported on the start of sowing for the 2009-2010 agricultural campaign, pointing up the farmers' positive reception, in all regions of the Republic, reserved to the presidential measures decided in their favour, as well as the beneficial effects of these measures on the extension of the areas sown to 1,570,000 hectares, and to 110,000 irrigated hectares, in addition to the National Large- Scale Cultures Institute's actual intervention in these activities by means of the establishment of contract- programmes, a more important participation of the professional structures, satisfaction of the needs in selected seeds and the farmers' regular supply in fertilisers in needed quantities.
As to the olive sector, the exposé pointed out the start of the olive picking and processing campaign.
The sectors of dates and citrus fruits registered, for their part, a quantitative and qualitative production progress compared with last year.
The exposé also reviewed the results recorded in the sectors of market gardening, breeding and fisheries, as well as the appropriate means to develop their activities.
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