A delegation from the International Monetary Fund ( IMF) will visit Tunisia on 12 June as part of negotiations for the release of a new tranche of loans signed between the two parties, Hakim Ben Hammouda, Tunisian Minister of Economy and Finance, announced on Thursday in Tunis.
Reaffirming the commitment of Tunisia to respect agreements with all international institutions, Hamouda said that the IMF had so far released three installments totalling US$888.4 million as part of a development loan signed in June 2013.
When releasing the third installment, the IMF urged the Tunisian authorities to control the budget deficit during the year while adopting new measures aimed at controlling salaries, considered very high, and lowering energy subsidies.
The Fund also emphasised the need for public banks to adopt a new strategy, the restructuring of the banking sector and the creation of a corporation for the payment of outstanding debts in the tourism sector.
Many Tunisian politicians and experts have described the conditionalities as a new form of “dictatorship”, warning the country against being involved in a cycle of indebtedness.
But the government says it is compelled to accept conditionalities to prevent the worsening of the acute economic crisis facing Tunisia for now three years
