Tunisia said it had sent a report to the judiciary to issue a ruling to liquidate and dissolve the French-Tunisian Bank, one of the oldest banks in Tunisia, after it could not be rescued.

The Committee for the Rescue of Troubled Banks headed by the central bank governor said it noted the bank stopped paying and that it could not be rescued.

This is the first Tunisian bank to declare bankruptcy due to financial problems that have accumulated for years.

The Committee for the Rescue of Troubled Banks said the Bank Deposit Fund will compensate the depositors, with about 60 000 dinars as a maximum.

The bank was at the center of a dispute more than three decades ago between one of its first shareholders and the Tunisian state, which confiscated all the shares at the time.