Tunisia does not accept the “dictatorship” of the International Monetary Fund and very firmly rejects the conditions under which the IMF is ready to provide aid of 1.9 billion dollars. informed Reuters, citing a statement by President Qais Syed.
The head of state also warned that the reduction in subsidies received by the country could lead to unrest.
In September 2022, the Tunisian authorities reached an agreement on a loan with the IMF, but did not fulfill their main obligations, and the fund clarified that the financial parameters of the Tunisian budget differ significantly from the indicators taken as the basis for the calculation of the loan agreement.
Without a loan, Tunisia faces a veritable balance of payments crisis, Reuters notes. Its external loans mature at the end of 2023, and international rating agencies have already warned that Tunisia could default. In early 2022, S&P Global expressed concerns about the state of Tunisia’s economy due to debt accumulated amid the coronavirus pandemic.
However, Qais Syed said he had no intention of following the “dictatorship” of the IMF. The conditions of the fund include the reduction of budgetary subsidies for food and energy, as well as a reduction in the salaries of civil servants.
The president recalled the “bloody riots” that swept Tunisia in 1983 after the government raised the price of bread. “The peaceful existence of society is not a game,” he warned.
Asked by journalists about Tunisia’s alternative to the IMF loan, the Head of State replied that “Tunisians must rely on themselves”. Meanwhile, members of the country’s government have previously said there is no alternative to a deal with the International Monetary Fund.
Tunisia’s 2023 budget included a 26.4% reduction in government subsidies to 8.8 billion dinars ($2.89 billion). However, the government has so far failed to raise fuel prices, apparently to avoid public anger, as inflation in the country hit 10.3%, its highest level in four decades.
Qais Syed came to power in 2021, dissolving parliament and appointing a new government. At the same time, according to his decree, supposedly necessary measures have been taken to “end many years of chaos” and “rampant corruption within the political elite”. The president said Tunisia’s economic problems stem from corruption and rejected help from international organisations, calling it “foreign interference”.
Tunisian authorities have been negotiating with the IMF for several months, but the process has stalled, with the United States and France demanding that Syed implement a long-term reform program. At the same time, Italy insists on providing Tunisia with “rapid support”, which will allow the country to avoid financial collapse. In March, Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni warned that if Europe did not help Tunisia secure its financial stability, the EU risked welcoming a huge wave of migrants from North Africa.
