IMF to send team to Tunisia for further talks about credit facility

An International Monetary Fund team of experts will travel to Tunisia late this month to continue talks with authorities about the North African country’s request for a loan.

“A small team of IMF experts plans to visit Tunisia this month for further discussions with the authorities to build on what I can describe as good progress in designing their reform policies,” said the IMF spokesperson Gerry Rice.

Tunisia, facing harsh economic and financial challenges, has turned to the IMF for a multiple million-dollar financial package necessary to supplement national budget suffering a deficit of $2.8 billion.

The talks began on Feb. 14. The North African country hopes to finalize the negotiations by the end of first quarter of this year.

The country’s powerful labor union UGTT Wednesday vowed to oppose any austerity measures be imposed as condition for the loan.

“Public companies are not for sale and the public sector is a red line … painful reforms, forget it,” Noureddine Taboubi, the union’s National Secretary said, calling for wage increases in 2022 and 2023.

“If you want to discuss reforms, our vision for reform is comprehensive and deep, and its basis is fiscal justice,” he added.