Tunisian former minister reveals reasons

Tunisian former Finance Minister Hussein Al Demasi underlined the deterioration of his country’s economy, saying that the notable decline in the value of Tunisian currency of dinar is major evidence in this regard. He added, “We cannot deny the severe crisis Tunisia's economy has been through for some time. Evidence of this is the economic indicators, all of which light up the red color.”

He underlined, in an interview with "Arabs Today", the weak economic growth witnessed in that country in 2016, saying that the economic rate will not achieve any notable progress in 2017. He blamed the government’s failure to attract foreign investments during the recent period for the current economic position.

Regarding the real reasons for the chronic debility of Tunisia's economy, He said that it comes as a result of the current political situation and the disintegration of the political parties and their keenness to promote populism as the only way to achieve political gains during the current political conflict. He blamed the political parties for giving priority to the political gains and winning the elections at the expense of saving the country from its current economic situation.

He added that the decline of Tunisian currency led to three major repercussions, including Reduction of the standard of living of most citizens and exacerbating imbalance of the state budget in addition to the confusion of the economic cycle. It leads to a sharp increase in the prices of most of the imported material consumed by the Tunisian citizen directly, while some of the state budget expenditures will experience heavy inflation.

He added that the major challenge facing them is the financial problem, saying that the governmental institutions work to support such programs depending on investment funds instead of the banking loans. He added that dependence on investment funds is better than the banking loans which are difficult to be paid due to the increasing rates of interests.

He added that the Tunisian government should not demand the Europeans to provide them with only loans, while to establish an investment fund. He stressed that the Europeans will accept the Tunisian demand, as they work currently to find serious solution for the crisis of immigration. He added that they will support such funds aiming to support projects that could resolve the problems of those Tunisians aspiring to leave their country.

He added that the Tunisian government needs to change its economic approach, while such objective would not be achieved without dialogue, saying that the Tunisian dialogue should not be limited to the social and economic sides, while to extend to the political level.

The economic plan, the Tunisian expert said in a statement to “Arabs Today”, should drafted in participation of the different parties of the country with no exclusion. He warned that the current economic growth which does not transcend one percent is not enough. He clarified that the public debt witnessed notable rise, while the Tunisian budget suffers from deficit.