Tunisian FM hails Italy’s support over IMF loan
Rome backs disbursement of funds ‘without preconditions’ Tunisia’s foreign minister has hailed “Italy’s clear understanding of the … need to support the … economic recovery underway” in his country. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to pay official visit thi
Nabil Ammar was speaking on Friday night at a ceremony in the residence of Italy’s ambassador in Tunis on the occasion of Italy’s National Day.
The event was attended by representatives of Tunisia’s government and business community. Ammar thanked Italy for all its efforts to explain Tunisia’s viewpoint to other countries regarding negotiations for a loan of nearly $1.9 billion from the International Monetary Fund.
The IMF requires Tunisia’s government to carry out a series of reforms before giving the loan. However, Tunisia is asking for a first tranche of funding to be released immediately by the IMF, while the rest of the loan can be paid in line with the progress of reforms.
Ammar described Italy’s backing of Tunisia on this point as “intelligent and constructive.” He recalled that Italian Prime
Minister Giorgia Meloni urged the IMF at last month’s G7 Summit to adopt a “practical” approach to disbursing funds to Tunisia “without preconditions.”
Ammar stressed that the challenges facing all Mediterranean countries and others worldwide on migration “go beyond the capacities of individual states and require all of us to raise solidarity to the level of a fundamental value more quickly than ever before.” He expressed his hope that the proposal by Tunisian President Kais Saied to organize a regional conference on migration will be accepted “so that this phenomenon can be effectively tackled in a way that takes account of the humanitarian dimension.”
Saied made the proposal during his meeting in Tunis with Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi on May 15.
Meloni and Saied on Friday night discussed bilateral relations during a phone call. According to a press release by Meloni’s office, she accepted Saied’s invitation to pay an official visit to Tunisia next week. Tunisia’s parliament recently announced it had approved an agreement for the country to obtain a loan worth $500 million from the African Export-Import Bank.
President Kais Saied has proposed taxing Tunisia’s wealthiest citizens to avoid the “foreign diktats” of the IMF.
During a recent meeting with Prime Minister Najla Bouden,
Saied floated the idea of “taking surplus money from the rich to give to the poor,” citing a quote attributed to Omar bin Al-Khattab. “Instead of lifting subsidies in the name of rationalisation, it would be possible to introduce additional taxes on those who benefit from them without needing them,” Saied said, adding that he believed such a mechanism would mean the country would not have to bow down to foreign lenders.
Finance Minister Siham Nemsieh warned that failure to repay the loans would lead to the “bankruptcy of the state.”