São Paulo – In order to face the serious economic difficulties in 2015 and 2016, Tunisia needs a growth rate of 6% to 7%, said this Thursday (26th) the minister of Economy and Finance of the country, Hakim Ben Hamouda, according to information from the news agency Tunis Afrique Presse (TAP).
According to the Pan African news agency Panapress, Hamouda said the economic problems of the country linger and a joint effort of every willing hand is needed to overcome them. The minister spoke during a seminar on finance services of the Arab nation.
Such efforts, according to him, should allow the rekindling of the economy and make Tunisia become an emerging country of the Mediterranean basin.
The growth forecast for this year, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), is 2.8%, with an increase to 4.2% in 2015.
Tunisia’s economic difficulties have dragged on for years and were the catalyst of the popular riots that ousted the then-president Zine El Abdine Ben Ali, in January 2011, instigating the so-called Arab Spring.
One of the main problems the country faces is unemployment, mainly among young people – an issue other Arab nations also have to deal with -, combined with a growth rate so far unable to generate the necessary job.
Tunisia has also had problems with its balance, with elevated fiscal and foreign deficits, though multilateral organizations such as the IMF acknowledge the country has been keeping the macroeconomic stability, in spite of the political problems it faced and the bad global economic context.
From the standpoint of foreign financing, Tunisia has been granted loans from organizations such as the IMF and the World Bank. The Fund, however, releases the installments provided fiscal targets are met.
*Translated by Rodrigo Mendonça
