Nearly 4m Tunisians living in poverty

Tunisian Minister of Social Affairs Malek Ezzahi revealed that 963,000 families, consisting of about 4 million Tunisians, suffer from poverty, out of a population of nearly 12 million.

The minister’s statements came during the opening of a symposium on the advancement of social workers and the reform of the social sector, organised by the Ministry of Social Affairs in Kairouan yesterday, and which was reported by the official Tunis Afrique Presse news agency.

Ezzahi announced the expansion of the cash transfers programme for families in need, to include an additional 310,000 families during 2022.

“During the upcoming month of Ramadan [starting in early April], work will be done to provide a social assistance programme as we do every year, to benefit low-income and in-need families.”

The Finance Law of 2022 included an increase in the grants to families in need from 180 dinars ($61.85) per month to 200 dinars ($68.7). The measure includes 310,000 families, according to the official agency.

The population of Tunisia reached about 11,708,370 people, according to data issued by the National Institute of Statistics in January.

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