Stuck in a serious economic crisis, Tunisia has requested its third loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 10 years.

Fund officials are making a "virtual visit" to Tunisia until February 22 before the possible launch of formal negotiations.

The IMF has asked the government for reform proposals that could include cuts in the civil service wage bill and in commodity subsidies, raising public fears of further sacrifices.

"People used to buy by the kilo, now they only take what is strictly necessary", explains to AFP Mr. Jani, grocer at the Halfaouine market, in the city center.

The country, plunged into a political crisis since President Kais Saied granted himself full powers in July, is also sinking into recession.

Delila Dridi, employed at the Ministry of Education, "earns 1,000 dinars (305 euros) per month".

"Usually I had between 60 and 100 DT left over every month, today I have to borrow to make ends meet," she told AFP.

Her situation began to deteriorate "when Zine left", she says, referring to dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali who ruled the country for 23 years until his fall in 2011.

Delila Dridi, employee at the Ministry of Education, on the Halfaouine market in Tunis, February 15, 2022 FETHI BELAID AFP

It was the self-immolation by fire at the end of 2010 of Mohamed Bouazizi, a street vendor, which sparked a revolt in the underprivileged regions before reaching the capital and forcing Ben Ali to flee, also kicking off the Arab Spring.

Since then, rather than fighting corruption and structural problems, Tunisia's young democracy has become bogged down in ideological disputes between Islamists and secularists.

To guarantee social peace, successive governments have massively recruited to the point that the number of civil servants has tripled in 10 years to reach 650,000 employees, not counting the more than 150,000 employees of public companies, according to the IMF.

In a recent document, the International Crisis Group warned that the state "was narrowly managing to cover public sector salaries and repay foreign debt".

"Just a Spark"

Little has also been done for poor regions, which has widened inequalities even further, according to Romdhane Ben Amor of the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES).

In recent years, the European Union and other countries have come to the aid of Tunisia "via a massive injection of liquidity (loans or donations, editor's note) in order to protect the economic fabric, businesses and jobs", notes l Economist Ezzedine Saidane.

On the Halfaouine market in Tunis, February 15, 2022 FETHI BELAID AFP

But in 2020, the country was hit hard by the wave of Covid-19: GDP collapsed by more than 9% and more than 80,000 SMEs went bankrupt.

"The economy is in deep recession, the debt is reaching unprecedented levels, as is unemployment" very high among young people, according to Mr. Saidane.

Job losses and annual inflation above 6% have pushed a good part of the middle class into poverty, also fueling a massive emigration of tens of thousands of young Tunisians in search of a better life.

This situation represents an immense challenge for President Kais Saied, who appointed a government in November but rules the country by decree-laws.

This austere professor of constitutional law has promised to "clean up" the institutions but "has no economic or social program", worries Mr. Ben Amor.

On the Halfaouine market in Tunis, February 15, 2022 FETHI BELAID AFP

"He does not meet experts in economics, he only sees experts in law. While our problem is not legal".

"The IMF talks about citizens and their needs in terms of numbers: the public wage bill, interest rates, debt levels. It does not look at people according to their needs: to eat, to take care of themselves, to travel “, worries Mr. Ben Amor.

Like economist Saidane, he thinks the crisis could lead to more social instability: "It looks like the calm before the storm. The country is just waiting for a spark, just like in 2010".

© 2022 AFP