UPDATE 2-IMF postpones meeting on Tunisia loan, new finance law not yet ready
Oggi 01:08 - RSF
(Adds IMF confirmation)
By Tarek Amara
TUNIS, Dec 14 (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund has postponed its board meeting on a loan program for Tunisia that was scheduled for Dec. 19 to give the authorities more time to finalise it, a government official told Reuters on Wednesday.
He added that Tunisia intends to re-present the file of the reform program when IMF meetings resume in January.
The global lender on Wednesday removed a discussion of the Tunisia program from its agenda, a step likely linked to the fact that the 2023 budget, which includes reforms, is not yet ready.
An IMF spokeswoman said the delay would give Tunisia time to complete work needed before the IMF program could be approved.
“The Executive Board discussion on Tunisia’s request for an arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility has been postponed to permit more time for the authorities to complete program requisites. This includes discussions on a new Board date,” she said.
Tunisia has reached a staff-level agreement with the IMF for a $1.9 billion rescue package in exchange for unpopular reforms, including cutting food and energy subsidies, and reforming public companies.
The country has been in urgent need of international help for months as it grapples with a crisis in public finances that has raised fears it may default on debt and has contributed to shortages of food and fuel, according to government critics.
The staff-level agreement is for a 48-month package through the IMF’s extended fund facility to restore macroeconomic stability, strengthen social safety nets and tax equity, and bring reforms that would foster growth and create jobs.
Tunisia’s economy had been badly buffeted for years as political uncertainty and militant attacks hit its crucial tourism sector even before fresh challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic and a global commodities squeeze from the Ukraine war.
Business and financial sources said that next year's budget is widely expected to include austerity measures, tax hikes for professions such as lawyers and accountants, wealth taxes, and spending cuts.
(Reporting by Tarek Amara in Tunis; additional reporting by Andrea Shalal in Washington Editing by William Maclean and Leslie Adler)
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