As part of efforts aimed at encouraging credit institutions and venture capital companies to finance the creation or extension of projects carried out by economic units and to reduce the risks incurred by such units, the National Guarantee Fund (F.N.G), was set up pursuant to article 73 of law n° 81-100 of 31 December 1981 establishing the finance law for 1982, as amended by article 66 of law no. 83-113 of 30 December 1983, the 1984 Finance law for 1984, by law no. 99-8 of 1 February 1999 and by law no. 2000-72 of 1 7July 2000 .
1- Types of financing eligible for the guarantee:
The types of credit eligible for the Fund’s intervention as defined by article 2 of decree no. 99-2648 of 22 November 1999, as amended by decree no. 2000-2154 of 25 September 2000, decree no. 2003-2425 of 24 November 2003, and decree no. 2006- 2545 of 25 September 2006 and by decree no. 2010-1950 of 6 October, 2010, are as follows:
- Short-term operating loans granted to small and medium farmers and fishermen by banks out of their deposits.
- Medium and long-term loans granted to small and medium farmers and fishermen by banks out of their own resources or from borrowed funds.
- Medium and long-term loans granted by banks out of their own resources or from borrowed funds, to finance start-up or expansion investments made by small businesses operating in the manufacturing sector and whose total cost does not exceed the ceiling set by the texts governing the interventions of the National Fund for the Promotion of Crafts and Trades and Light Industries (FONAPRAM)
- Short-term bank operating loans to finance the projects indicated in the precedent paragraphs and included in a financing plan approved by the decision to grant financial benefits.
- Medium- and long-term loans granted by banks out of their own resources or from borrowed funds and financing investments in the crafts and light industries under law No.81-76 of 9 august 1981 creating the FONAPRAM.
- Export -prefinancing loans and loans discounting paper mobilizing claims abroad.
- Medium and long-term loans granted to finance investments in service activities eligible for assistance from the Industrial Promotion and Decentralization Fund (FOPRODI), and whose cost of investment does not exceed the ceiling set by the texts governing the FONAPRAM.
- Seasonal and investment loans granted to large-scale farmers and reported for coverage by the Funds for loss sustained due to drought, under the conditions set out in article 8 of the decree no. 2648/1999.
- Medium-term loans granted to projects eligible for assistance under the Incentive Regime for Innovation in the field of Information Technology(RITI), whose investment cost does not exceed the ceiling set by investment does not exceed the ceiling set by the texts governing the FONAPRAM.
- Equity investments by venture capital companies out of their own resources in small enterprises operating in the manufacturing and services sectors and eligible for support from the FOPRODI and in projects eligible for assistance under the RITI regime and whose investment cost does not does not exceed the ceilings set by the texts governing the FONAPRAM
- Loans granted by the Tunisian Solidarity Bank (B.T.S)
- Micro-credits granted by associations.
2- Intervention methods of the Fund:
The various interventions of the Fund are listed in articles 3 and 8 of decree no. 99-2648, and can be summarized as follows:
- Assumption of part of the irrecoverable amounts of credits guaranteed by the Fund
- Assumption of a proportion of the costs of judicial proceedings initiated for the recovery of the loans.
- Assumption of a proportion of irrecoverable equity investments under the conditions laid down in the abovementioned decree.
- Assumption of the entirety of interest with respect to rescheduled agricultural loans for coverage by the Fund in the event of loss as a result of drought.