A cooperation agreement covering the 3rd phase of the BCC technical assistance programme (Bilateral Assistance and Capacity Building for Central Banks) supported by the Swiss government through the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), was initialled on Wednesday by Marouane El Abassi and Josef Renggli, respectively Governor of the BCT and Swiss Ambassador to Tunisia. The BCC programme is designed to strengthen the BCT's technical and institutional capacities with regard to several of its strategic objectives and projects. It is implemented by the Geneva Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID). This third phase, covering the period 2023-2028, represents the continuation of the structuring work already accomplished during the two previous phases. In terms of business areas, this new phase covers, in particular, the fields of monetary policy and financial stability. As for the development of research, the programme will continue to support the BCT in consolidating the results of its research to have a greater impact on decision-making. In addition, with the aim of strengthening environmental sustainability, the BCT will work on mitigating environmental risks and ways of encouraging the financing of green activities. On this occasion, El Abassi expressed his satisfaction with the quality of this cooperation framework "which the BCT joined in 2013 in order to identify and better meet the needs of its departments. Ten years on, the results of this partnership are convincing in terms of technical assistance, training and research", he emphasised. He also noted the programme's contribution to capacity-building and the development of the skills of BCT executives: "The scientific research sessions dedicated to BCT executives have enabled them to perfect their skills in Central Banking while benefiting from the excellent supervision of IHEID faculty members and being able to publish their research work in the BCC Programme journal. It was an opportunity for them to share their knowledge, learn and pass on, but above all to demonstrate the quality of Tunisian skills. Since 2018, around ten BCT executives have benefited from this programme. Our ambition is to broaden the range of beneficiaries of this programme. We will work together to achieve this goal," he added. The BCC programme is active in 8 countries, with a total budget of 8.5 million Swiss francs.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse