Tunisia – Economic advisor to the Tunisian prime minister Tawfik al-Rajhi announced that the government is preparing a program to restructure public institutions that are facing financial difficulties.

Al-Rajhi, who is responsible for following up on major reforms in the country, said that the program is focusing on enhancing capital, developing governance, encouraging growth and interior investment, and improving the social environment in order to increase these institutions’ production.

Rajhi said that Tunisian PM Youssef Chahed will hold a government meeting this week to ratify this program, given that the folder of the public institutions is very complicated and requires time and effort to be settled.

He said that some 404 public institutions, active in 25 different economic sectors, are facing many difficulties and suffer from many deficiencies.

In this regard, economic expert Sadeq Jabnoun said public institutions suffer from a deficit exceeding four billion Tunisian dinars ($1.6 million) and therefore are not contributing to the funding of the state budget.

This demands an immediate amendment of the 2017 financial law, he noted.

Jabnoun called on the state to abandon its harsh fiscal policies and to encourage industry, agriculture, and major sectors to regain economic vitality.

In a report released in April, the World Bank expected the Tunisian economy to grow by 2.3 percent in 2017 based on primary indications that confirm the recovery of strategic sectors like agriculture, phosphate and transitional industries.