Al-Abbasi added in statements to Reuters that the value of the loan is still under negotiation, and that it is likely to range between two billion dollars and four billion dollars, stressing that he hopes that an expert agreement will be reached in the coming weeks.
The government and the Tunisian General Labor Union, the country’s main labor union, signed an agreement last week to increase public sector wages by 5 percent, in a move that could ease social tension.
But they did not announce any further agreement on the economic reforms needed to obtain a financial rescue package from the International Monetary Fund.
Al-Abbasi said that the wage agreement is an important step for negotiations with the fund, adding that it “will give a clear vision of the wage block that is expected to decrease in the coming years.”
And Fitch, the credit rating agency, stated, on Friday, that the wage agreement in Tunisia increases the possibility of concluding an agreement with the International Monetary Fund.
Al-Abbasi indicated that the potential agreement would open the doors to bilateral financing, including with Japan and Gulf states.
“We have advanced talks with Saudi Arabia,” he added.
The fund made it clear that it would not go ahead with the rescue plan sought by Tunisia, unless approved by the labor union, which it says has more than one million members.
Tunisia is struggling to revive its public finances with growing discontent with inflation, which has reached nearly 9 percent, as well as a shortage of many foodstuffs in stores because the country cannot afford some imports.
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