Tunisian President Kais Saied has put forward a proposal to introduce additional taxes aimed at the wealthiest individuals in order to avoid seeking a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), whose conditions he rejects. According to Mr. Saied, the current system of subsidies for essential goods benefits all Tunisians, including the wealthy.
He suggests the idea of redistributing surplus funds from the rich to the poor, drawing inspiration from the teachings of Omar Ibn Al-Khattab, one of the early caliphs of Islam. Instead of removing subsidies in the name of rationalization, the president believes that imposing additional taxes on those who benefit from these subsidies without requiring them would be a viable solution.
He argues that such a mechanism would allow the state to avoid succumbing to foreign-imposed conditions. In April, President Saied had already rejected the IMF’s conditions, which linked the granting of a loan to Tunisia with economic reforms and the removal of certain state subsidies.
Tunisia currently has a debt amounting to approximately 80% of its GDP and had secured a preliminary agreement for a new loan of nearly $2 billion from the IMF in mid-October to address its severe financial crisis. However, the discussions have stalled due to the country’s lack of firm commitment to implementing a reform program aimed at restructuring over 100 heavily indebted public companies and removing subsidies on specific essential products.
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