In March, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Tunisia urgently needs to reach an IMF deal because its economy "risks falling off the deep end". Under the IMF deal Tunisia would also have to restructure 100 state-owned firms that hold monopolies over many parts of the economy and are often heavily indebted. The budget deficit of eight percent in 2022 came entirely as a result of state subsidies, mostly for energy, after Russia's invasion of Ukraine pushed up global prices. The state's fuel subsidies bill soared 370 percent on-year in the first half of 2022, official figures show. Belhadj said that without an IMF deal "the situation is going to become increasingly difficult" with a "very large" risk of debt default in 2024 and 2025.

Source: Daily Nation July 26, 2023 15:16 UTC