Tunisia to sell shares in three state banks and layoff 10,000 employees

Tunisia’s minister of finance said on Sunday that the government is likely to sell shares in three state-owned banks and layoff at least 10,000 public sector employees this year as part of reforms demanded by the International Monetary Fund.

“The IMF postponed the payment of a second tranche worth $350 million scheduled last December because of lack of progress in reforms,” explained Lamia Zribi, “including the public sector wage bill, public finances and state banks.”

She added that a delegation from the IMF is expected to visit Tunisia at the end of March to discuss reforms as well as the third tranche of aid. However, she stressed that the delegation’s visit and the release of the $350 million depend on achieving “tangible progress in the reform programme.”

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The minister explained that the government will begin plans to cut the number of public sector employees by encouraging early retirement and voluntary redundancy. The government hopes to cut the wage bill to 14 per cent of the overall budget by the end of 2017 and about 12.5 per cent by 2020.

Tunisia is facing pressure from international lenders, including the IMF, which agreed last year to lend the country $2.8 billion in exchange for a package of reforms across many sectors.

The reform of three state-owned banks — Societe Tunisienne de Banque (STB), Banque Nationale Agricole (BNA) and Bank de l’Habitat (BH) — are among the urgent steps demanded by the IMF.