MARRAKECH (TAP correspondent Nadia Attia)-A team of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will visit Tunisia in the coming weeks to examine the latest economic and financial developments in the country, under Article IV, said Director of the IMF Middle East and Central Asia Department Jihad Azour at a press conference, dedicated to the launch of the IMF's October 2023 Regional Economic Outlook for the Middle East and Central Asia «Building Resilience and Fostering Sustainable Growth.» The official described the "home-grown" reform programme tabled by the Tunisian government, as a "pride," underlining that Tunisia should further tighten its monetary policy in order to curb inflation, which remains high, despite its contraction. Growth in many economies in the Middle East and Central Asia is slowing, reflecting the combined effect of tighter policies, oil production cuts, geopolitical tensions, and other domestic challenges. For the Middle East and North Africa, the fund lowered the real GDP growth forecast to 2.0 percent for 2023 (a downgrade of 1.1 percentage points from the last projections in April). Growth will accelerate to 3.4 percent in 2024 as some of these factors fade and persistent structural hurdles will constrain growth over the forecast horizon. Importantly, growth is not forecast to be strong or inclusive enough to create jobs for the 100 million Arab youth who will reach working age over the next 10 years.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse