Middle East News: Tunisia ‘keen to fulfil foreign debt obligations’ – Gulf Digital News

Middle East News: Tunisia ‘keen to fulfil foreign debt obligations’ – Gulf Digital News

SOUSSE: Tunisia will continue to fulfil its foreign debt obligations and has started preparatory work for an IMF deal, Prime Minister Najla Bouden said yesterday, as talk of a possible default swirls among local and foreign analysts.

Her comments echo those of Finance Minister Sihem Boughdiri who said at an economic conference on Thursday that Tunisia was far from rescheduling its debts within the Paris Club, despite its financial difficulties.

“The Tunisian state is keen and will continue to fulfil its foreign debt obligations due to Tunisia’s foreign currency reserves level,” Bouden told an economic conference in Sousse.

Tunisia facing its worst economic crisis after its economy contracted 8.8 per cent last year and the fiscal deficit reached a record 11.4pc.

Economists have warned that Tunisia’s foreign currency reserves will decline significantly with the debt repayments, hurting the value of the local dinar currency.

Central bank figures showed yesterday that foreign currency reserves had reached 7.02 billion, the equivalent of 119 days of imports.

The North Africa country resumed talks last month with the International Monetary Fund on a loan package predicated on Tunis imposing painful and unpopular reforms.

Bouden told the conference the government had started preparing an advanced draft in order to reach a