Tunisia must improve investment climate to help economy grow: OECD

Tunisia must improve its business climate and cut red tape to attract more investment and create jobs, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said on Thursday. In its first report on the North African country's economy, the Paris-based OECD said Tunisia had made progress on several fronts but that regulation, red tape and lack of logistical services were hampering investment to boost the private sector.
"Business investment has dropped by more than 5 percentage points of GDP since 2000, holding back the economy's gains in productivity, job creation, growth and competitiveness," the OECD said in the report. Tunisia has been undertaking economic reforms agreed with the International Monetary Fund in return for loans to help cut its budget deficit and turn around an economy hit by turmoil following the 2011 overthrow of autocrat El-Abidine Ben Ali.