Tunisia: President continues his purge, sacks Minister of Industry

Tunisia’s President Kais Saied sacked Thursday minister of Industry, Energy and Mines Neila Nouira Gongi, his office announced without giving any details.

Gongi has been in the Cabinet since October 2021. The announcement came as the government is set to increase gas prices in the next coming days.

“The government is busy studying the alternatives of the subsidy system and the assumptions of its direction in a well-studied way. We are in the final stages and in the next few days, the dates of the fuel increases will be determined,” she said according to local media, Mozaique FM.

Tunisia is in talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a $1.9-billion loan to supplement its national budget facing a $2-billion deficit. The loan attached to a string of conditions has been rejected by the country’s powerful labor union, UGTT. The conditions include removal of government subsidies on some key products.