IMF agrees Tunisia bailout deal amid persisting discontent

IMF agrees Tunisia bailout deal amid persisting discontent
The IMF agreed to a $2.8 billion tentative bailout to Tunisia a day after residents on a Tunisian island protesting unfair hiring practices by British oil company clashed with police.
2 min read
16 April, 2016
On Friday the IMF announced a $2.8 billion loan programme for Tunisia [Getty]
On the eve of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) deal to assist Tunisia with a four-year loan program, clashes erupted on the Tunisian island of Kerkennah between police and residents who were protesting against the British oil company Petrofac.

The protestors, who had blocked access to six trucks into the Petrofac factory, accuse the firm of denying jobs to unemployed youth on the island, AFP reported.

Police used tear gas and water jets to disperse protesters who threw stones at law enforcement officers. But the interior ministry issued a statement claiming that the police were forced to intervene as the protestors had targeted security officers with stones and bottles.

Tensions initially flared on the island about two weeks ago when unemployed graduates held a sit-in blocking access to the Petrofac plant and were forcefully dispersed by the police.

Despite being held up as a model for democratic progress, with free elections and a modern constitution, Tunisian youth feel that the revolution did not deliver on its economic promises.

Tunisia has to a great degree managed to avoid the violence that marred political upheaval in the neighbouring countries.
Despite being held up as a model for democratic progress, with free elections and a modern constitution, Tunisian youth feel that the revolution did not deliver on its economic promises.
In a country where the unemployment rate is over 15 per cent, and youth unemployment levels at 30 per cent, these clashes are a test to Tunisia’s stability.

In late January, the country witnessed several days of riots over jobs and economic conditions in what turned out to be the largest protests since the 2011 Arab Spring uprising.

Following four major militant attacks over the past year, Tunisia has seen a massive drop in tourism revenue, and while the state struggles to cope with a surge of refugees from Libya, its own nationals are also thought to represent the largest contingent of foreign IS fighters.

On Friday the IMF announced a $2.8 billion loan programme for Tunisia. The programme, which is tied to economic reform conditionalities, will be subject to approval next month by the IMF's executive board. It will replace a $1.6 billion bailout that expired at the end of last year.

The IMF has recognised the refugee cross springing out of the Syria and Iraq conflicts as a major geopolitical risk to the global economy, and is also negotiating separate loan programmes with Jordan and Iraq.