The powerful UGTT union in Tunisia announced on Monday that it would soon “occupy the streets” and organise large-scale rallies to express its opposition to the country’s upcoming austerity budget.
This would be the union’s most direct challenge to President Kais Saied’s administration to yet.
With more than a million members, the union has demonstrated its ability to use strikes to cripple the economy. It has occasionally supported Saied since he took over most of the powers last year, but it has also expressed resistance at times.
“Why do we accept this situation? We will not accept it…we will occupy the streets to defend our choices and the interest of the people,” Noureddine Taboubi, head of UGTT said.
With over a million members, UGTT has a track record of using strikes to completely shut down the local economy. It has supported Saied in the past when he took control of most of the country’s affairs last year, but it has also opposed him at times.
The fiscal deficit in Tunisia is projected to drop from an estimated 7.7% this year to 5.2% in 2023, thanks to unpopular changes that may pave the way for a final agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on a bailout package. Legal professionals, engineers, and accountants will all see their taxes increase, from 13% to 19%.
Lawyers, engineers, and accountants will all be subject to tax increases ranging from 13% to 19%. According to Taboubi, this administration is “a government that collects taxes…the Finance Law enhances the pain of Tunisians.”
Samir Saeed, the finance minister, predicted that 2023 would be a “particularly challenging year” and added that the government will cut its spending on subsidies by 26.4%, mostly in the energy and food sectors.
In order to close the widening energy gap, the government increased the cost of drinking water this month and plans to do the same with fuel prices starting in 2023.
Many professions have expressed their opposition to the budget, with attorneys threatening to engage in what they dubbed “a tax disobedience” in a statement.
With the Bretton Woods Institution, Tunisia has struck a staff-level agreement for a $1.9 billion bailout package in exchange for unpalatable changes. Restructuring public corporations is one of these, along with reducing food and energy subsidies. It aspires to finalise a transaction before the start of 2019.
The 2023 budget revealed that a key change sought by the IMF, a reduction in the salary bill in the public sector from 15.1% in 2022 to 14% the following year.