While President Kaïs Saïed announced that his country would not bend to the dictates of the International Monetary Fund, his Minister of Economy and the Governor of the Tunisian Central Bank left to attend the institution’s spring meetings. How to explain this Tunisian double discourse?
With our correspondent in Tunis, Amira Souilem
On one side, Kaïs Saïed, who believes that his country could manage without the IMF. On the other, his economy minister and the governor of the Tunisian central bank who flew to Washington earlier this week to attend the spring meetings of the IMF. Officially, contact is therefore not broken with the institution.
For Mohamed Haddad, a researcher in political economy, this Tunisian double discourse is not surprising. ” The objective of these multiple speeches is to serve a speech that appeals to the president’s supporters, to serve an image that corresponds to the expectations of European and Western partners in general and to meet the expectations of as many parties as possible. “, he believes.
Tunisia has been negotiating for months with the Fund, with a view to releasing a new burst of loans that should eventually reach 1.9 billion dollars. While his Western partners were urging him to take a stand, the Tunisian president made the choice to reject the institution, of which he says he refuses the ” dictates which risk further impoverishing Tunisians.
According to Mohamed Haddad, other alternatives are vaguely envisaged, but Tunisia would not, at this stage, have a serious plan B: ” Supporters of the president speak of a possibility of appealing to the BRICS on behalf of Brazil, India, China and South Africa. The Brics have their development bank. Can these alternatives be mobilized in an emergency? Are they guaranteed? Have there been prior negotiations on the part of Tunisian institutions? It seems to me that the answer is no. »
Indebted to the tune of 89% of its GDP, Tunisia is increasingly worrying its international partners. Americans, Europeans and Africans are increasing calls to act quickly to avoid a ” collapse ” from the country.
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