Tunisia's largest union on Monday attacked the government's handling of negotiations with the IMF on a loan to bail out the North African country as it slides deeper into debt. As Noureddine Taboubi of the Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT) was giving his May Day speech in the capital Tunis, protesters in the country's second city Sfax denounced "an IMF government", saying "No to colonisation". "We back the position of the president", Kais Saied, who last month rejected what he called IMF "diktats" for Tunisia to be granted the loan, Taboubi said. Despite an agreement in principle on the loan, agreed in October, talks with the IMF have been stalled for months over Saied not committing to restructure public bodies and lift subsidies on basic goods. "This makes us wonder whether there is any value in the government negotiating with the IMF," he said.

Source: The North Africa Journal May 01, 2023 17:43 UTC