Tunisia is seeking through a government document prepared on the negotiating program with the International Monetary Fund and to persuade international financial institutions to finance the Tunisian economic program, to reduce the mass of wages in the public sector to the limits of 15 percent of GDP during 2022, while it was in the range of 17.4 percent during the past year, it works to implement these reforms at no social cost; and that by directing aid to vulnerable groups.
The government also plans to gradually reduce the number of subsidies provided by the government for a group of basic consumer products during the coming period, pending the abolition of the entire subsidy system during the year 2024. The gradual lifting of subsidies is expected to include foodstuffs in a first stage. Then electricity and gas at a later stage before the final abandonment of the subsidy system.
As part of its reform program, the Tunisian government approved encouraging employees to leave voluntarily in exchange for receiving 25 percent of their salaries or half of the salary in exchange for fewer working days. The government seeks to review the bonus system, in consultation with trade union organizations, and proposes a rule for controlling salaries and bonuses based on productivity, economic growth, and the evolution of the rate of inflation at the local level. On the other hand, the Central Bank of Tunisia presented a 3-year plan aimed at achieving greater effectiveness at the level of monetary policy by establishing an inflation-based framework in line with international best practices. This plan is among the most important axes of the government reform document that Tunisia is currently negotiating with the International Monetary Fund.
The Tunisian Central Bank plans to put in place a mechanism for calculating and estimating financial crises to understand the risks of exposure of the Tunisian banking system to macroeconomic shocks, fluctuations in inflation, interest rates and the exchange rate.
Source (Asharq Al-Awsat Newspaper, Edited)
