30 Oct 2012

Paris and Tahiti sign deal to release funds

2:26 pm on 30 October 2012

Paris and Tahiti have signed a deal which will see the release of nearly 44 million US dollars owed to French Polynesia.

The French Overseas Territories Minister Victorin Lurel and French Polynesia's vice president Antony Geros made the announcement after talks in Paris.

The territory had earlier received an installment of 20 million US dollars to meet the administration's cash flow difficulties.

The full amount had been blocked amid acrimony between the former centre-right French government and the pro-independence French Polynesian government.

French Polynesia has suffered in the financial crisis with unemployment at between twenty and thirty percent.

Monday's talks also allowed French Polynesian representatives to present progress on the territory's recovery plan for which Paris has agreed to provide support.