The government approves funding for the new olive oil season
A cabinet chaired by Sara Zaafrani Zenzri allocates funds to oil fields and small farmers to support exports and regulate local prices.
Prime Minister Sara Zaafrani Zenzri has overseen the Cabinet Palace in Tunis on a narrow cabinet to follow up on measures for the success of the 2026-2027 olive oil season. The Prime Minister stressed the need to maintain the quality of the product and increase the volume of exports, especially canned ones, with particular emphasis on domestic consumption and price rationalization.
During the meeting, it was decided to enable the National Oil Court to purchase volumes of national production with government support and joint bank financing of 150 million dinars to undertake market adjustment. The financial decisions included monitoring 20 million dinars through the Tunisian Solidarity Bank to provide concessional loans for the benefit of small farmers, as well as instructing the Oil Department to store up to 60,000 tonnes when a financial ceiling for grants of 20 million dinar is needed.
The Prime Minister stressed that all phases of the season must be secured from revenue and transfer to storage and marketing to ensure the complete safety of the system. In return, farmers and professionals look forward to the speed at which these easy loans will be pumped in and activate the oil giant's involvement in field purchases as recovery begins. These arrangements follow a national production record of 500,000 tonnes in the 2025-2026 season, with growth of 65% compared to the previous five-year rate, and an increase in exports to 399,000 tonnes until September 2026, while domestic consumption reached 50,000 tonnes. At the organizational level, a revision of the regulated texts for the inclusion of packaging capacity from 3 to 5 litres was approved as part of the export incentive grant, with the state's contribution to the maritime transportation of canned oil through the Export Promotion Fund increased from 50 percent to 60 percent during 2027.
The next steps include the inclusion of a draft Finance Law for 2027 creating a private account in the Treasury to finance the treasury system, as well as opening a 100 million dinar financing line extending until 2030 to grant seasonal and investment loans with differential interest.
