Tunisian government has no plans to remove subsidy on basic consumer products

Governor of the Central Bank of Tunisia (BCT) Chedly Ayari said the "government does not plan to fully remove subsidy on basic consumer products, thought it has made some adjustments in some products such as prices of energy for companies."
Ayari presented on Wednesday morning the annual report of the BCT to President of the National Constituent Assembly (NCA) Mustapha Ben Jaafar.
There will be no increase in prices of staple goods such as bread and gas cylinders for domestic use in the coming period, he told the press after the meeting.
The governor also said he expected an improvement in the growth rate in the second half of 2014, "if the political situation stabilises." Growth was limited to 2.1% in the first half of the current year.
He also spoke of "early signs of growth of the Tunisian economy despite its weakness," while expressing concern about the persistent increase in inflation and the deficit of the trade balance.
Ayari stressed the need to boost the national economy and production, considering that "Tunisia's problem is not economic but essentially political. It is possible to continue economic development under any government."
The governor highlighted the improvement in the rate of exchange of the dinar against the Euro and the rise in the country's foreign currency reserves to 113 days of import to the end of August 2014.
In a reading of the BCT report for 2013, he spoke of political events and particularly attacks against politicians, security forces and the army that had impacted negatively on the economy.
"Despite the increasing number of strikes and work disruptions in several companies, the rate of growth was positive, though low, last year," he said.