Kaïs Saïed reiterated, Tuesday December 10, 2024, what is now his doctrine in terms of international cooperation: international aid is always welcome, but foreign interference in Tunisia’s sovereign choices is unacceptable. Video.
During his meeting with the vice-president of the World Bank (WB) for the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region, the Senegalese Ousmane Dione, who succeeded to this position from the Tunisian Férid Belhaj, the president of the republic declared that the prospects for cooperation between Tunisia and the WB must fall within the framework of the choices of the Tunisian people and not within the framework of the “diktats” of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which it moreover rejected in October 2022, when he vetoed a loan of 1.9 billion dollars from the financial institution, accompanied by a commitment from the Tunisian state to initiate a series of structural reforms relating to the lifting of subsidies, the reduction in the public sector wage bill and the sale of certain public companies in difficulty.
Saïed, who rejected these painful reforms, which could have caused socio-political tensions in the country, focused on the orientations of the State in the social field, particularly in the sectors of health, education , transport and social security, indicates a press release from the presidency of the republic reporting on this meeting.
The cooperative relations between Tunisia and the WB Group which date back more than 70 years, notably with the International Development Association (IDA) and which have resulted in the financing of several development projects in several areas, such as education, recalled the Head of State, placing emphasis on “major and complex transformations [dans le monde] which require the adoption of economic approaches based on new concepts and methods.”
“These approaches will have to break with old practices which have proven to be limited and have shown their failure. They must place the social dimension among their first priorities”he added, thus emphasizing the social role of the State and rejecting the liberalism that dominated the world economy in the late 1980s.
For his part, Dione stressed that the meeting made it possible to discuss the social contract, the mechanisms for progress on a set of issues which should make it possible to further improve the economic and social situation of all Tunisians.
The interview allowed us to review the issues of employment, economic recovery, health, education and social protection, as well as the impact of climate change, Dione said. According to a video shared by the Presidency of the Republic, the head of the WB emphasized the need to jointly reflect on new dynamic and innovative concepts and approaches which will make it possible to bring about transformation to the entire Tunisian economy. «We firmly believe in the potential of Tunisia and in a bright and better future for all Tunisians.he underlined, expressing the readiness of his institution to cooperate further with our country in accordance with its objectives.
I. B.
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