Tunisian President Kais Saied arrives at the closing session of the New Global Financial Compact Summit on Friday, June 23, 2023, in Paris, France. Lewis Joly/Pool acquire license rights via REUTERS/File Photo
TUNIS, Oct 17 (Reuters) – Tunisian President Kais Saied fired Economy Minister Samir Saied on Tuesday after reiterating that a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was crucial for raising other foreign financing.
The president strongly opposes what he called the IMF’s dictates, saying the IMF is “not sacred” and its terms would lead to protests.
The minister told state news agency T` on Tuesday that “lenders are surprised about Tunisia’s talks with the IMF.” He added that “any deal would send a strong signal to the rest of the financiers.”
Tunisia reached a staff-level agreement with the IMF last year on a $1.9 billion loan, but it has already missed key commitments and donors say the state’s finances are increasingly falling short of the numbers differ on which the agreement was based.
The president criticized the minister’s previous statements and said the government was tasked with implementing the president’s policies.
The president temporarily assigned Finance Minister Sihem Boughdiri to head the Ministry of Economy.
Tunisia expects its economy to grow by 2.1% in 2024, up from 0.9% in 2023, and plans almost the same subsidies for fuel, electricity and food, while also reducing taxes for banks, hotels and Liquor companies will be increased, according to a draft bill in his budget on Tuesday.
The bill contained no reference to an agreement with the IMF.
Reporting by Tarek Amara and Enas Alashray; Edited by Sandra Maler
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