Tunisia Official Says No IMF Visit Due Amid Warnings on Economy
IMF Team Due in Tunisia for Talks as Warnings Over Economy Mount
Tunisia is participating in the International Monetary Fund’s annual meetings, but there are no imminent visits planned by the lender to the North African country, a central bank official said, a day after a state-owned TV channel reported a delegation was due.
Reporting Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva’s Wednesday comments on Tunisia’s troubled economy, Wataniya 1 said they came “on the eve of the visit of a delegation from the International Monetary Fund to Tunisia on a week-long mission to discuss the possibilities of resuming negotiations” on assistance.
Tunisia is in continuous contact with the IMF and the central bank governor is taking part in the current annual meetings with the lender, but no such visit is planned, the official said, asking not to be identified.
Tunisia is battling long-standing economic troubles and has been mired in a fresh political crisis since late-July, when President Kais Saied suspended parliament, assuming more powers and later appointing a new premier. The central bank last week voiced concern over the “acute” drying up of foreign financing and the sustainability of public debt.
Georgieva said in a press briefing Wednesday that Tunisia “needs well‑targeted economic reforms urgently to stabilize the economy, to put the public finances on a sustainable path, to create impetus for private sector jobs, to come and make growth higher and more sustainable,” according to a transcript.
©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
