TUNIS — Tunisian President
Kais Saied declared
war Wednesday on food speculators amid a shortage of products such as wheat and
semolina — key staples in a country already mired in a political-economic
crisis.
اضافة اعلان
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has threatened
supplies of basic foodstuffs, particularly wheat which many
Arab countries
chiefly import from the two eastern European nations.
Saied announced that he was launching a
"relentless war on speculators and criminals", accusing them of
seeking to "strike at social peace and security", in a presidency
statement.
Saied had previously announced that he was
working on legislation introducing prison sentences as a penalty for food
speculation and profiteering.
Tunisia has seen a sharp shortage in staples
such as rice, semolina, sugar, and flour over the past weeks, with the
authorities frequently announcing the seizure of illegally stored quantities of
these foods.
Tunisia remains embroiled in economic and
political crisis eight months after Saied seized extraordinary powers, having
dissolved parliament and suspended the government.
Russia's invasion of
Ukraine poses a threat
to food supplies to Tunisia, which imports about half its wheat from Ukraine
and is dependent on foreign countries for much of its food supplies.
The North African country began talks in
February with the
International Monetary Fund over a potential
multi-billion-dollar bailout for the country's crisis-hit economy.
The lender has called for "deep
reforms" and public spending cuts, having previously voiced concern over
Tunisia's budget deficits and in particular its public sector wage bill.
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