Loan to Tunisia: Italy urges 'Pragmatic' IMF approach

 


Giorgia Meloni, the prime minister of Italy, told fellow G7 leaders in Japan on Saturday that the International Monetary Fund should adopt a "pragmatic" strategy when considering a bailout for Tunisia.

In order to stabilise its faltering economy, the North African nation agreed an agreement in principle with the IMF in October, but talks have since stopped.

Meloni, the leader of Italy's most right-wing administration since World War II, and other European politicians worry that Tunisia's economic collapse could increase the number of migrants arriving at European coastlines.

The administration of Tunisian President Kais Saied has refused to agree to the IMF's demands for economic changes. Rome, though, has pressed the group to accept a first, unconditional rescue package.

At meetings in Hiroshima, Meloni informed her Group of Seven counterparts that Tunisia was in a "very difficult situation," with "obvious political fragility and the risk of financial default just around the corner," according to Italian sources.

During the conference, Meloni remarked, "Negotiations between the IMF and Tunisia have effectively been blocked."

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