Ratification of the Tunisian constitution and the nomination of a new government (by Abdallah Al Dardari)

Hours after the ratification of the Tunisian constitution and the nomination of a new government, the Tunisian Dinar and the Tunisian stock exchange started appreciating. In just two days it gained between 2 and 5 percent against the US Dollar and the Euro, while the Tunisian stock exchange index appreciated by 3% to 4,515 points, in a clear sign of confidence in the political process and the ability of the economic team, with the likes of Dr Hakim Ben Hamouda, Mr. Kamel Ben Nasser and Mr. Hedi Lerbi, to  gain trust, resume economic activity and growth, and mobilize external funding and investments. This government (until elections in December), even if it is transitory, should not necessarily be an economic lame duck. It is capable of harnessing a mix of monetary and fiscal tools to boost growth and jobs. It will also seek to propose policies stimulating growth that take at the same time into account the financial balances. Perhaps it might also be inspired by the policies proposed in ESCWA's Survey of Economic and Social Developments in the Arab Region 2012-2013, like measures to create jobs in the short term that bring about transition dividends to weary Tunisian youth and enterprises. This however needs the rallying of Arab and international donors and investors to vote for democracy in Tunisia with their deeds, or more accurately their cash, not just words. The world, and specially Arabs, needs to see a glimpse of hope for real change coming from the country that started it all. Tunisia has just achieved what France these days is lamenting about: a grand social compromise between trade unions and entrepreneurs laying the ground for this historical breakthrough. As "Le Monde" puts it such a grand compromise, needed to pull the country of the worst unemployment situation ever, presupposes a cultural revolution, seemingly not happening in France. Tunisians, secular and Islamists, workers and owners, right and left seem to have produced that "cultural revolution" and with it the social compromise. We will work with Tunisia with confidence that, miraculously, an Arab economic dawn could possibly rise from the Maghreb.