Tunisia’s parliament has voted against proposed tax reforms that aimed to impose taxes on lawyers and pharmacists, a huge blow to the government’s efforts to cut the deficit and implement economic reforms.
The vote that was conducted late on Thursday came a day after the government backtracked on plans to freeze public sector wages in 2017 following a deal with the powerful UGTT union.
Finance Minister Lamia Zribi said Tunisia would need $3.7 billion in foreign loans in 2017, $1 billion more than anticipated two months ago.
Lawyers had campaigned against the planned taxes and held three nationwide strikes in a month and demonstrations in front of parliament and the prime minister’s office. The UGTT had threatened a public sector general strike but called it off after the compromise deal.
Lawmakers affiliated to the governing coalition, many of them attorneys, declined to back the proposed taxes in a tense session in parliament.
