Tunisian government asked to propose amendments to 2023 budget

Parliament requested changes after government officials revealed that public expenditure had risen despite plans to reduce spending

Tunisia's Minister of Finance, Sihem Boughdiri Nemsia, attends a question session in parliament. Photo: Tunisian parliament

Tunisia's government will have to present a bill to amend the 2023 budget in the coming days, the parliament said on Thursday after President Kais Saied again expressed concern about reforms sought by the International Monetary Fund for a $1.9 billion bailout of the country's troubled economy.

The request for changes was made by the House of Representatives after its finance committee questioned the Ministry of Finance over the progress made in implementing the current 2023 budget and sought updates on negotiations with the IMF.

The budget, which was published by the Economy Ministry and approved by Mr Saied in December, sought to reduce expenditure on state subsidies by 26.4 per cent to 8.8 billion dinars ($2.84 billion) and raise tax revenue by 12.5 per cent to 40 billion dinars.

The budget was criticised by ordinary Tunisians as well as experts, who saw it as being geared towards fulfilling the IMF’s conditions for a bailout.

Tunisia's economic crisis has caused shortages of fuel and essential goods as the state struggles to pay suppliers.

Government representatives told the finance committee on Thursday that public expenditure had increased by 5.7 per cent by the end of May compared with the same period in 2022.

Officials said the increased spending and public finance difficulties resulted from the accumulation of external factors, including the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

They said an increase in public debt over the past decade had prevented the recovery of growth rates and placed further pressure on the 2023 budget, which has been suffering a deficit due to lack of external funds.

Following these explanations, parliament asked the government to submit an amendment bill for the current budget before discussions can begin on next year’s.

Hopes of an IMF bailout, for which a staff-level agreement was reached in October, have faded amid stalled negotiations and Mr Saied's public criticism of the government’s reform plans.

Mr Saied reiterated his concerns over the IMF’s conditions at the Paris Summit for a New Global Financing Pact on Thursday.

“These financial support recipes are unacceptable", he told IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva, adding that the conditions constitute "a threat to civil peace, which is priceless for us”.