HomeNewsTunisia: IMF warns government of risks of wage increases

Tunisia: IMF warns government of risks of wage increases

Director of the Middle East and Central Asia department at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Jihad Azour has warned the Tunisian government about serious debt problems if it does keep its public sector wage bill under control, reports Reuters.

During an interview in Dubai on the publication of the IMF’s Annual Report on Regional Economic Outlook in the Middle East and Central Asia Region, the IMF official said “Tunisia must keep its public sector wage bill under control to avoid severe debt problems.”

This statement comes a few weeks after the government and the UGTT agreed on wage increases in the public sector for the years 2017-2018-2019.

““It’s very important for the government to maintain control over current spending and to maintain control over the wage bill. “This will allow them to achieve the fiscal targets they have set for 2019, and also this will reduce the additional pressures that increasing spending will put on taxpayers,” said Azour.

He added that the government needed to run a very conservative fiscal policy that would allow it to shrink its budget deficit gradually to levels that would be acceptable for the economy.

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