Policy Note on SMEs Access to Finance in Tunisia

Abstract

The Tunisian government has long been aware of the need to support companies in their search for financing. Over the last decade, the government has strengthened legal and regulatory frameworks in this area, created public financing systems, facilitated the development of financial markets and helped to expand the supply of financial products, especially those geared at SMEs. SMEs play a vital role in Tunisia because at least 97.8 percent of Tunisian firms (across all sectors) fall into this category. The main consequence of the prevalence of SMEs in Tunisia s economic landscape is that all economic development strategies are de facto based on the performance of this category of companies. SMEs ability to obtain financing for their business operations and investments is therefore crucial to Tunisia s future economic development.