Tunisian President Kais Saied said “the war” to speculators faced with a shortage of basic food products in a country in the grip of a serious political and financial crisis. He assured that he wanted to lead “a fierce war under the law against speculators and criminals” who want “undermining social peace and security” of the country, in a statement issued on March 9, 2022 by the presidency. Kaïs Saïed is working on new legislation providing for sanctions that can go as far as imprisonment for the traders involved, and which will be the subject of a presidential decree, according to the presidency.
In recent weeks, Tunisia has experienced a shortage of many staple foods such as rice, semolina, sugar and flour. The authorities regularly announce the seizure of quantities of these foods in illegal depots.
“The country did not experience this phenomenon of speculation in December 2010 and after January 14, 2011, which means that it is a premeditated act.”
Kais Saied, President of Tunisiaat the TAP agency
The Ministry of Commerce thus announced, on Tuesday March 8, the seizure of five tonnes of semolina and flour as well as 278 kilos of rice, “hidden” by a wholesaler of food products in a popular district of Tunis. In three days, from March 2 to 4, the same ministry said it seized “912 tons of rice, semolina, flour, sugar and other products” in warehouses, mostly illegal, scattered throughout the country as well as several tons of fruit and vegetables (apples and potatoes in particular), eggs, canned tomatoes and vegetable oil.
War against speculation: “The zero hour has struck”, announces Kais Saied https://t.co/Ly9CclKnCL via @@webdo_tn #Tunisia
— webdo (@webdo_tn) March 9, 2022
Eight months after his July 25 coup by which he assumed full powers, Kaïs Saïed is struggling to extricate the country from a deep political and socio-economic crisis. The invasion of Ukraine by Russia, which began on February 24, increases the difficulties of Tunisia, very dependent on foreign countries for its food, especially for wheat, from which it imports half of its needs, mainly from from Ukraine. Tunisia produced 1.6 million tonnes of cereals in 2021, less than half of its needs. In 2019, Ukrainian imports represented nearly 47.7% of Tunisian wheat imports, those of Russia being 3.97%. According to the local press, the Tunisian cereals office on March 8 canceled a call for tenders for 125,000 tonnes of soft milling wheat and 100,000 tonnes of fodder barley because of soaring prices.
#Tunisia : #KaïsSaïed and those who “want to starve the people” https://t.co/Rc5nw71bme pic.twitter.com/mrxbIYjAFY
— Kapitalis (@KapitalisInfo) March 9, 2022
Tunisia began preliminary discussions with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in February in the hope of obtaining several billion dollars to save its heavily indebted economy. Tunisia is on the verge of financial asphyxiation and in serious economic difficulty, with a debt of more than 100% of GDP, high inflation (more than 6%), weak growth and a high unemployment rate (more than 18 %). The IMF, which criticizes the very high level of the civil service wage bill (16% of GDP, 650,000 civil servants), could demand the end of certain subsidies on basic products such as gasoline within the framework of a possible agreement, a measure that will weigh on household budgets.