Tunisian Finance Minister Muhammad Nizar Yaish revealed that there are multiple and various difficulties facing the Tunisian economy at the present time, and several difficulties will emerge in a short period in light of the recession in recent months, which led to a weak volume of exports, a decline in state resources and a lack of financial liquidity.
He stressed that the current economic situation in Tunisia is "very difficult", and requires "boldness and change of track, and joining all efforts and avoiding all political tensions."
He explained that most public institutions have been experiencing financial deficits for years, and the development of a number of them has now become more complicated after the stop of economic activities and the difficulty of returning to normal activity in a number of sectors such as the tourism sector and the transport sector, especially air and sea.
He pointed to the necessity of resorting to a number of directed solutions, considering that talking about a unified and comprehensive economic solution is not possible under the current circumstances, expecting that the Tunisian authorities will resort to adopting plans and strategies that affect each economic activity separately, and to restructure many governmental institutions even until it returns to the economic cycle in better conditions.
It is noteworthy that the International Monetary Fund expected negative economic growth in Tunisia of 4.3 percent, which is an economic decline that the country has not known since its independence in 1956.
According to the Tunisian Finance Minister, the Tunisian economy needs 11 billion Tunisian dinars (about $3.8 billion) of internal and external loans to finance the 2020 budget, and difficulties are expected to increase as a result of the suspension of activities during the past months, especially the deterioration of tourist reservations, which is one of the most important sources of foreign exchange provision.
Source (Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper, Edited)
