The government has begun the implementation of austerity measures, including cutting government spending by 5%, after a deficit of more than 7% was recorded in 2013, said Finance Minister Elyes Fakhfakh.
Fakhfakh, indicated Monday at a meeting of the Joint Committee for Financial Transparency that the government also started implementing mechanisms to better direct subsidy expenditures.
The goal, he said, is to ensure greater social equity.
He said that these measures will be consolidated to ensure a return to the same averages of compensation recorded in 2010.
The value of subsidy has doubled during the year 2013, reaching 5.5 billion dinars (MD), after having stood at 1,500 MTD in 2010, said the minister.
According to Fakhfakh, the state budget for the year 2014 seeks to achieve greater stability, stating that wages will remain unchanged in that year (no decision to increase wages), especially since the year 2013 was marked by a nearly 5% rise in wages in relation to the year 2010.
The minister pointed out that the state is able to pay the salaries of civil servants in the coming months, while stressing that improving the economic and financial situation in Tunisia is dependent on the resolution of the political crisis in the country.
