Tunisia gets $230m World Bank loan

Tunisia has obtained a $230 million loan from the World Bank to build and expand 146 kilometers (91 miles) of roadways to the most isolated regions in the country, the bank said on Wednesday.

The project would connect around 373,500 people living in the poorest regions to the coastal cities that offer more economic opportunities, a statement from the Washington-based bank said.

The Tunisian government wants to boost living standards in poor and remote areas where repeated strikes and sit-ins have started to destabilise politics.

Tunisia has been struggling economically since a 2011 uprising toppled its former autocrat Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali. Attacks by armed militants this year have devastated its tourism industry, the country's main resource of foreign exchange.

Tunisia's economic growth is expected to slow to about 1 percent this year, compared with 2.3 percent in 2014, with a deficit amounting to about 5 percent of gross domestic product.