Tunisia is mired in an economic and financial crisis worsened by the backpedalling to autocracy as president Kais Saied intensifies his crackdown on critics, while picking migrants as scapegoats. Last week, Fitch rating rated Tunisia ‘CCC+’, warning that “default is a real possibility.”Without the IMF deal, other bilateral or multilateral creditors would not be encouraged to lend Tunisia, a country of about 13 million. As reform and talks with IMF stall, Tunisian president seeks scapegoats sending scores of critics including Islamist and secular politicians to prison. Kais Saied is doing the opposite. Lacking solutions, Saied seeks solace in rhetoric which only backfires at a country that was once an Arab Spring success.

Source: The North Africa Journal March 11, 2023 12:09 UTC