Tunisia raises fuel prices for fourth time in a year

The Tunisian government has raised fuel prices by about 4.00 per cent for the fourth time in a year in an attempt to reduce the budget deficit and meet the economic reform requirements stipulated by international lenders to Tunisia.

The price of one litre of fuel rose to 1.985 Tunisian dinars compared to the previous rate of 1.925 Tunisian dinars, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Industry last Saturday.

There have been three increases in the fuel prices in Tunisia in about a year in March 2017, January and June.

Read: Tunisia returns Russian military equipment seized en route to Libya’s Haftar

Total fuel subsidies in Tunisia are expected to rise this year to 4.3 billion Tunisian dinars compared to the previous value of 1.5 billion Tunisian dinars due to the rise in the world oil prices.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been pressuring the Tunisian government to raise fuel and electricity services prices to offset the country’s budget deficit due to the rising oil prices so that the government can compensate for this deficit.

The IMF said: “The continuation of the right path towards reducing the fiscal deficit this year and next year is necessary to stabilise debt rates and reduce import demands in light of the rise in world oil prices in the recent period.”