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· The outgoing IMF country chief for Tunisia said that the economy of the north African state needs “deep reforms” including drastic reducing its vast public wage bill
· Jerome Vacher, the IMF country chief, added that the pandemic had created the most severe recession since Tunisia’s independence in 1956.
· The country had pre-existing problems, such as budget deficits and public debt. These problems have worsened in recent years
· External deficits have also been persistent in previous years.
The outgoing IMF country chief for Tunisia said that the economy of the north African state needs “deep reforms” including drastically reducing its vast public wage bill. Jerome Vacher, the IMF country chief, added that the pandemic had created the most severe recession since Tunisia’s independence in 1956.
The country had pre-existing problems, such as budget deficits and public debt. These problems have worsened in recent years. External deficits have also been persistent in previous years. The growth figures are low to lift the economy up. Growth dropped by almost 9% of GDP in 2020. In 2021, it only recovered by 3% while unemployment remained high at over 18%.
The IMF envoy believes that the Tunisian economy needs deep structural reforms to improve the investment climate as also a correction of macroeconomic imbalances. It also needs an improvement of the budgetary situation and a deep reform of public enterprises, the IMF official observed. Tunisian President Kais Saied sacked the government and suspended parliament in July last year and the country is facing massive protests against the present dispensation. The government has asked the IMF to give a bailout package.
