Tunisian Finance Minister Siham Boughdiri Nemsia on Wednesday denied rumors that the Tunisian Central Bank had resorted to printing money to finance the state budget.
In a statement to private radio “Shams FM”, the Tunisian minister rejected false information about the Central Bank’s use of money printing to finance the state budget, a step that would lead to a monetary surplus and an inflation crisis, in addition to the loss of value of the Tunisian dinar.
Nemsia estimated that there were many inaccuracies about the financial situation in Tunisia, particularly with regard to the payment of salaries through the accounts of savers at the Tunisian post office.
In a press release published on Tuesday, the Tunisian Post said that the sums of money which are periodically transferred to the public treasury, represent the income which is collected by the revenue from the finances, passing through the postal network through the postal current accounts opened on behalf of public accountants for decades.
Nemsia affirmed that there are financial pressures that exist not only since July 25 (the date of the announcement of the exceptional measures taken unilaterally by President Kaïs Saïed) but also date back to the beginning of 2021, i.e. to the previous government.
The minister said that the salaries of civil servants for the coming months are not threatened, denying reports that say the opposite.
She indicated on the issue of the closure of the state budget for 2021, that even “without external financing, it is possible to resort to internal financing through the various available mechanisms that were used before”.
Regarding the agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Nemsia pointed out that the government submitted the initial document that was prepared for the period 2022/2026 to the Tunisian General Labor Union (UGTT) and the Union Tunisian Industry, Trade and Handicrafts or (UTICA) for study and negotiation.
Tunisia started technical negotiations with the International Monetary Fund in mid-May 2021, but these negotiations were suspended due to instability in the country.
