Tunisia union: Government’s economic forecast part of election campaign

Secretary-General of the Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT) Noureddine Taboubi yesterday questioned indicators announced by Tunisian Prime Minister Youssef Chahed about economic growth in the country, the Anadolu Agency reported.

“I am afraid the economic indicators announced by the government are part of an electoral campaign and marketing illusional,” Taboubi said.

He added: “When they speak to the media, they claim economic developments and improvements of the financial situation, but when they meet with us behind closed doors and we ask them to raise the salaries, they refuse and claim that the treasury is empty and the country suffers from debts.”

READ: Tunisia PM says changing the government now will hurt the economy

Taboubi said that the UGTT had asked the government to reshuffle several times in the past in order to solve the social problems and treat the economic crisis in the country.

Al-Shahed has announced that 2018 would be the last difficult year for the Tunisian treasury and the 2019 budget will be much easier and would not include new taxes.

Tunisia has been suffering economic stagnation for several years with unemployment reaching 15.4 per cent during the first quarter of this year.

Moody’s credit rating agency expects the Tunisian economy to grow at 2.8 per cent this year and three per cent in 2019, while the Tunisian government expected three per cent growth 2018.