Tunisia to fulfil obligations with IMF and labour union

Tunisian Prime Minister Youssef Chahed attends a budget commission meeting for 2017 at The Assembly of the Representatives of the People building in Tunis, Tunisia on 18 November 2016 [Yassine Gaidi/Anadolu]

The Tunisian government pledged to fulfil its obligations to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the General Labour Union (GLU) on Monday with regards to controlling public sector wages, government spokesman Iyad Al-Dahmani has told reporters. His comments were made following the start of discussions on next year’s draft budget on Friday.

“The unity government found out in August that the state has pledged to the International Monetary Fund to control public sector wages while also telling the GLU that it will increase the wages of state employees,” he explained. Apparently, the IMF asked Tunisia for the wage ratio not to exceed 14 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product.

According to the 2017 budget, the wages value will decrease from 14.4 per cent ($5.991 billion) in 2016 to 13.9 per cent ($5.651 billion) in 2017.

Tunisia secured a four-year $2.88 billion loan from the IMF in April. In order to meet its obligations, the Tunisian government has decided to postpone staff promotions and increase public employees’ wages for 2017 and 2019. This was rejected by the GLU.

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