This is Tunisia's highest loan since independence. This week, technical negotiations between Tunisia and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) begin.

In exchange for the approval of international donors, Tunisia is committed to economic reforms that are described by experts and frightened by citizens, particularly since part of them relates to the lifting of support for staples, including food and a 15 per cent reduction in the wage block.

At a recent press conference, IMF spokesman Jerry Rice said that negotiations with Tunisia were still under way after their launch in the first month of May and that they had not yet determined the amount of the loan discussed or the time frame for the conclusion of the negotiations.

In the context, the Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris, expressed support for Tunisia's negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in a phone call with the President of the Republic, Qais Saeed.

Tunisia is engaged in these negotiations in a throwaway financial crisis described by the Head of Government, Hisham Musheshi, in statements of a "critical state of public finance" calling for urgent reforms to be implemented by reducing the wage mass and avoiding the dire consequences of high public debt.

Tunisia registered a deficit of 11.5 per cent at the end of 2020 and a negative growth rate of 8.8 per cent for the economy due to the fallout from the Corona crisis.

It should be noted that during the past February, Moody's Credit Rating Agency downgraded Tunisia's long-term foreign and domestic currency issue from B2 to B3, and maintained its negative expectations, leaving the Tunisian state unable to exit to financial markets abroad in addition to the difficult economic situation at home.