Tunis officially holds talks with IMF

TUNIS, Feb. 17 (YPA) – Tunisia on Wednesday opened a new round of talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to secure a $4 billion funding line over four years, amid serious concerns that negotiations could fail under internal and external constraints.

Internally, the Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT) has vetoed a number of provisions of the reform document, which will be negotiated by the Tunisian authorities with the International Monetary Fund, notably a five-year public service pay freeze and the lifting of subsidies on basic materials.

This morning, a spokesman for the Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT) said that the Union had conditions for negotiations with the IMF, including that “the reform programme should be purely Tunisian, not projected from abroad”.

The IMF required the approval of the reform document by social parties, including the Labour Union, to move forward with  negotiations .

The talks coincide with foreign statements, described by some as blackmailing Tunisia and a worrying indicator that will negatively have impact on the course of negotiations with the IMF, most recently a statement by EU foreign policy representative Joseph Borrell, in which he noted the possibility of suspending financial aid to Tunisia from the European Union.

E.M