The United States reiterated its support to Tunisia as the North African country battles to revive its economy which has been devastated by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris made the pledge in a conversation with Tunisian President Kais Saied on Tuesday in which she said they discussed the “longstanding friendship between our countries”.
“…I reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to Tunisia. We stand with Tunisia as it makes the economic reforms necessary to recover from the challenges of the pandemic,” Harris said in a tweet.
The Tunisian presidency also said Saied highlighted the strength of the two nations’ longstanding bilateral ties and expressed Tunisia’s keenness to further develop and diversify bilateral cooperation.
Tunisia, which adopted democracy after a revolution in 2011, had endured years of economic stagnation, declining public services and worse living standards even before the pandemic, resulting in widespread anger and frustration.
Despite recording one of the highest numbers of COVID-19 cases and deaths in Africa, the Tunisian government has resisted imposing a second nationwide lockdown arguing that the country simply cannot afford it.
The tourism sector, responsible for close to a tenth of Tunisia’s economy, has been ravaged by the pandemic and, with a slow vaccine roll-out, the government recently introduced new restrictions on international travel.
International lenders have been urging Tunisia to adopt tough economic reforms to cut down long-term fiscal deficits and a huge sovereign debt.
Furthermore, efforts to agree a reform programme accepted by labour unions and lenders have been impeded by persistent political disputes between the government, the elected president and a deeply divided parliament.
Last week, the government began negotiations with the International Monetary Fund in an attempt to secure a financial assistance package to help boost the economy which contracted by 8.8 percent last year.
(Story compiled with input from Reuters)
Follow our socials Whatsapp, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Google News.
