The major labor union center in Tunisia, the UGTT, was led by a man who on Thursday rejected reforms that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had set as a prerequisite for lending money to Tunisia.
The secretary general of the Tunisian General Union of Labour (UGTT), Noureddine Taboubi, told the press, “We reject these terms (of the IMF) because of the low level of wages, the lack of resources, and the rise in the rate of poverty and unemployment.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the IMF stated that, subject to changes being carried out, it was “ready to initiate negotiations in the coming weeks on the development of an aid programme” for Tunisia.
Jihad Azour, Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the IMF, stated during a visit to Tunisia that “the seriousness of the consequences of the war in Ukraine emphasizes the need to pursue ambitious changes without delay.”
“Tunisia must urgently address its public finance imbalances by improving tax fairness, containing the growth of the high civil service wage bill, substituting transfers to the poorest for generalized subsidies, bolstering its social safety net, and reforming money-losing public enterprises,” he declared.
Mr. Azour claims that the “nationally inspired reform programme, as defended by the administration, is more credible and more likely to win general support, and consequently has a higher chance of success than in the past,” in order to support the beginning of discussions.
However, according to Mr. Taboubi, the present Tunisian administration, which was installed by President Kais Saied following his coup on July 25, lacks the “legitimacy” to engage reform-related conversations with the IMF.
Tuesday, President Saied urged the IMF to consider the social effects on the Tunisian populace of the reforms it expects in exchange for a loan when meeting with Mr. Azour.
