TUNIS: The International Monetary Fund has postponed its board meeting on a loan program for Tunisia that was scheduled for December 19 to give the authorities more time to finalize it, a government official told Reuters on Wednesday.
He added that Tunisia intends to re-present the file of the reform program when IMF meetings resume in January 2023.
The Fund on Wednesday removed a discussion of the Tunisia program from its agenda, a step likely linked to the fact that 2023 budget, which includes reforms, is not yet ready.
Tunisia has reached a staff-level agreement with the IMF for a $1.9 billion rescue package in exchange for unpopular reforms, including cutting food and energy subsidies, and reforming public companies.
The country has been in urgent need of international help for months as it grapples with a crisis in public finances that has raised fears it may default on debt and has contributed to shortages of food and fuel, according to government critics.
The staff-level agreement is for a 48-month package through the IMF’s extended fund facility to restore macroeconomic stability, strengthen social safety nets and tax equity and bring reforms that would foster growth and create jobs.
Tunisia’s economy had already been badly buffeted for years as political uncertainty and militant attacks hit its crucial tourism sector even before fresh challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic and global commodities squeeze from the Ukraine war.
Business and financial sources said that next year's budget is widely expected to include austerity measures, tax hikes for professions such as lawyers and accountants, wealth taxes, and spending cuts.
