Finance Minister Sihem Nemsia said that “recourse to domestic debt is justified by the rejection of conditional loans, which are likely to undermine national sovereignty.” “The policy adopted by the President of the Republic calls for ensuring that negotiations with traditional foreign lenders are conducted on an equal footing, with due respect for national dignity and sovereignty,” she asserted at a hearing session organised on Thursday by the parliamentary Finance and Budget Committee and devoted to discussion of the 2023 Amending Finance Law. The minister underlined the importance of the role played by banks in supporting the State budget and small businesses, adding that her department is endeavouring to deploy the necessary internal mechanisms to find a solution to the liquidity problem, including the transfer of frozen funds to banks. Speaking to MPs, Nemsia pointed out that the Amending Finance Law 2023 had been drawn up under exceptional conditions characterised by a difficult international economic situation, due to the continuing repercussions of the coronavirus epidemic and the war between Russia and Ukraine. These conditions led to a decline in growth worldwide, in addition to climatic factors at the local level which had impacted on budget execution. “The national economic situation was characterised, despite endogenous and exogenous factors, by a trend in GDP growth, stability in the exchange rate of the dinar and an increase in exports at current prices,” Namsia added. With regard to the implementation of the State budget up to the end of August 2023, tax and non-tax revenues and own resources posted an increase compared with the same period in 2022. Likewise, expenditures had been up, mainly due to the rise in spending on hydrocarbon subsidies, in addition to the increase in capital expenditure, financial operations and financing expenditures, the Finance Minister pointed out. She added that the execution of the 2023 budget has resulted in a budget deficit estimated at TND 1,100 million, as well as an increase in the principal of domestic and foreign debt to TND 1,174 million compared with the same period in 2022, which has required total financing estimated at TND 9765. These conditions called for a revision of the assumptions adopted to achieve the State’s balanced budget for the 2023 financial year. Despite the considerable growth in the updated own resources in 2023, which may reach TND 45, 360 million, i.e. up 10.7% (+ TND 4367 million compared with 2022), the results of the revision of assumptions, notably the price of a barrel of oil, had made it necessary to update the resources compared with the level forecast in the main Finance Bill, revealing a shortfall of TND 1,064 million (2.3%) despite the positive effects of the measures included in the Finance Bill and the major efforts made to improve recoveries. The volume of the State 2023 budget was up by TND 1,325 million, and a budget deficit of TND 12,288 million was recorded, requiring the raising of borrowing resources worth TND 21,931 million. According to forecasts, the volume of public debt is set to rise to 80.2% of GDP, the minister indicated.

Source: EN – Agence Tunis Afrique Presse