Circular to Banks and Financial Institutions No. 2020-21 of December 30, 2020

Tunis, on December 30, 2020

Circular to Banks and Financial Institutions No. 21 of 2020 Subject: Extension of Exceptional Measures Concerning Support for Enterprises and Professionals.

The Governor of the Central Bank of Tunisia, having examined Law No. 35 of 2016 dated April 25, 2016, concerning the establishment of the Central Bank of Tunisia, and Law No. 48 of 2016 dated July 11, 2016, concerning banks and financial institutions, and Decree No. 6 of the Prime Minister dated April 16, 2020, concerning the adoption of fiscal and financial measures to mitigate the impact of the spread of the "COVID-19" coronavirus, as amended and supplemented by subsequent texts, particularly Law No. 46 of 2020 dated December 23, 2020, concerning the Finance Act for the year 2021, and Decree No. 19 of the Prime Minister dated May 15, 2020, concerning the regulation of exceptional provisions regarding the repayment of loans and financing granted by banks and financial institutions to their clients, and Circular No. 47 of the Central Bank of Tunisia dated December 23, 1987, concerning the methods of granting loans, supervising them, and refinancing them, as amended and supplemented by subsequent texts, and Circular No. 24 of the Central Bank of Tunisia dated December 17, 1991, concerning risk distribution and allocation, and monitoring commitments, as amended and supplemented by subsequent texts, and Circular No. 9 of the Central Bank of Tunisia dated May 24, 1999, concerning the granting by resident banks, acting as accepted intermediaries, short-term loans in Tunisian Dinar to non-resident enterprises established in Tunisia, as amended by Circular No. 16 of 2007 dated May 10, 2007, and Circular No. 2 of the Central Bank of Tunisia dated March 10, 2017, concerning the management of monetary policy by the Central Bank of Tunisia, as amended and supplemented by subsequent texts, and Circular No. 10 of the Central Bank of Tunisia dated November 1, 2018, concerning the loan-to-deposit ratio, as amended by subsequent texts, and Circular No. 6 of the Central Bank of Tunisia dated March 19, 2020, concerning exceptional measures to support enterprises and professionals, as amended by subsequent texts, and Circular No. 12 of the Central Bank of Tunisia dated May 28, 2020, concerning exceptional financing to support enterprises and professionals in the face of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, as amended and supplemented by Circular No. 19 of the Central Bank of Tunisia dated October 5, 2020, and the deliberations of the Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Tunisia dated December 30, 2020, and the opinion of the Compliance Monitoring Committee No. 20 of 2020 dated December 30, 2020, as provided for in Articles 42 of Law No. 35 of 2016, particularly its second paragraph concerning confirmed circulars, has decided the following:

Article 1 - The deferment period provided for in the first paragraph of Articles 2 of Circular No. 6 of the Central Bank of Tunisia mentioned above is extended until September 2021, with respect to loan installments granted to enterprises and professionals.

Article 2 - The maximum deadline for benefiting from exceptional financing provided for in Articles 1 of Circular No. 12 of the Central Bank of Tunisia dated May 28, 2020, concerning exceptional financing to support enterprises and professionals in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, is extended until December 2021. Furthermore, banks may until December 2021 grant exceptional financing to non-resident enterprises established in Tunisia, in accordance with the provisions of Circular No. 12 of 2020 mentioned above, subject to the conditions set forth in Circular No. 9 of 1999 concerning the granting by resident banks acting as accepted intermediaries short-term loans in Tunisian Dinar to non-resident enterprises established in Tunisia. The exceptional financing referred to in this Article is also accepted as collateral for refinancing operations in the money market, in accordance with the provisions of Article 2 of Circular No. 12 of the Central Bank of Tunisia dated 2020.

Article 3 - Circular No. 19 of the Central Bank of Tunisia dated October 5, 2020, concerning exceptional measures to support enterprises and professionals active in the tourism and traditional industries sectors, is repealed.

This Circular enters into force as of the date of its publication.

The undersigned,
Marouan Abbassi