TUNIS, Aug 4: Tunisia’s economic rebound is set to continue after the turmoil and recession that swept the country last year, the IMF said on Friday, predicting 2.7 per cent GDP growth this year and 3.5 per cent in 2013.

A rise in tourism and foreign investment in the first half of 2012 contributed to the North African country's improved outlook, the International Monetary Fund said.

But economic risks loom large, including a worse-than-anticipated recession in Europe that would depress exports and rising social tensions that discourage foreign investment, it added.

“Tunisia's medium-term economic growth potential remains favourable, but unleashing it requires a comprehensive package of structural reforms to foster private investment,” the fund said.

The Islamist-led government gave an even more upbeat economic forecast on Thursday, saying it hoped to achieve growth rates of 3.5 per cent in 2012 and 4.5 per cent next year, after recording negative growth of 1.8 per cent in 2011.

The government wants to relaunch sectors like mining and manufacturing that lagged last year after the uprising, and it aims to create 90,000 new jobs and increase public spending.

The IMF said real growth could reach six per cent within five years.

But this assumed “continued macroeconomic stability, improvement in governance and the business environment, reforms of the labour market and education system to address the labour skills mismatches, and a strengthening of the financial sector.” Unemployment, a key factor behind Tunisia's revolution, remains high.

Official figures this week showed a slight drop in the first half of 2012, to 18.1 per cent of the active population, down from 18.9 per cent at the start of the year.

Credit line for Morocco Meanwhile, announced it was opening a “precautionary” $6.2 billion line of credit for Morocco to protect the economy from external shocks.

“The Moroccan authorities have stated that they... do not intend to draw on the line, unless Morocco experiences actual balance of payments needs from a deterioration of external conditions,” the IMF said in a statement.

Morocco will be able to tap $3.55 billion in the first year, the IMF said.

Known as the Precautionary and Liquidity Line, the financing is the latest version of a credit line launched in 2010 amid the global financial crisis, available for countries with sound economic policies.

“The PLL will allow the authorities to continue with their home-grown reform agenda aimed at achieving rapid and inclusive economic growth, while providing them with a useful insurance against external shocks,” the Washington-based institution said.Morocco has been struggling with drought and the sovereign debt crisis in the eurozone, which is Morocco's biggest trade partner.

IMF managing director Christine Lagarde hailed Morocco's track record of “strong economic policies and wide-ranging structural reforms.” The authorities have taken actions to combat high oil prices which are pressuring the economy and the country's finances, she said.

“Notwithstanding these comprehensive policy measures and favorable macroeconomic prospects, Morocco faces external risks linked to uncertainties in the eurozone and potential oil price increases,” she said in the statement.

“The authorities intend to treat the arrangement as precautionary.”

Jordan gets $2bn IMF issued a $2 billion loan for Jordan to steady the country's battered economy and protect it from external “shocks” in the region.

The IMF executive board approved the three-year loan, making $385.35 million immediately available, the fund said in a statement.

The remaining amount will be phased in, subject to quarterly reviews of the economy's performance under the so-called Stand-By Arrangement.

The IMF noted that the loan, requested by the Jordanian authorities, represents “exceptional access” to the fund's resources, amounting to 800 per cent of Jordan's financial commitment to the institution.

Flanked by a circle of instability, Jordan has been ravaged by spluttering natural gas supplies from revolutionary Egypt and a flood of refugees crossing the border from war-torn Syria.

In addition, large financing needs to protect consumers from the increase in energy prices in 2011 were further deepened in 2012 by the need to provide housing and medical services to refugees from Syria.—AFP