Tunisian expert rebukes statements of finance minister

Tunisian economic expert Ezzeldin Saidan refused to describe the current economic situation as disastrous, while he blamed the economic situation for its failure to achieve development or to create job opportunities. He revealed that the economic growth has not transcended the zero point since 2011.
He stressed, in an interview with “Arabs Today”, “The governmental spending increased by nine percent during this period of time, while the revenues witnessed notable decline leading to a state of economic imbalance.”
He added that the Tunisian economy has not witnessed any growth despite the attempts adopted by the Central Bank to defend the value of dinar. He added that the currency dealings through the black market reflect the economic situation witnessed in the country during the current period. He said that the approach adopted by the government could support for increasing the Tunisian imports not exports.
He called the Tunisian government for adopting serious reforms in return for taking the loan from the International Monetary Fund, condemning the statements issued minister of finance, as he declared the possibility of rise of the Tunisian currency against dollar.
He added, “Decline of dinar and inflation would lead to the weakness of the purchasing power of Tunisians and notable increase in the prices of f different commodities.” He added that the government should increase its efforts to increase the foreign investments in the country during the coming period to pave the way for restoring the trade balance.
Regarding the Tunisian prime minister’s statement over his desire to push forward the economic growth, he said that the government should exert a lot of efforts to achieve this objective, saying that the recent developments witnessed in the Tunisian economy undermine the aspiration to achieve it in the near future.
He added tha the Tunisian government has a large number of options to improve the economic position, saying that it should characterize the current position seriously then to take serious steps to achieve reform upon strategic programs that could improve the economic situation as soon as possible.