Tunisian president slashes salary by two-thirds

TUNIS, Tunisia – Tunisia’s President Moncef Marzouki announced on Friday his decision to voluntarily take a two-thirds pay cut as the government grapples with a financial situation it has described as “critical.”

“We are facing a financial and economic crisis. The state must be a model… That is why I have decided to lower the legal salary of the president of the republic to a third” of its current level, Marzouki said in a statement.

The Tunisian economy has suffered from the instability that followed the 2011 revolution, which toppled long-time autocrat Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and ignited the Arab Spring.

Spokesman Adnane Mansar had previously said the president received a gross monthly wage of 30,000 Tunisian dinars (around 13,600 euros), which gave him a net income of 20,000 dinars (9,100 euros).

Marzouki, who has been president since late 2011, also said he had ordered further reductions in the expenses of the presidency.

Some Tunisian media have criticized the perceived excesses of the presidency, with much of the country still threatened by social conflict fuelled by poverty and high unemployment.

The government last week said the country’s public finances were in such a critical state that it had resorted to “exceptional measures” to ensure that April wages were paid.

In January, the International Monetary Fund released more than $500 million, part of a $1.76 billion loan to support Tunisia, shortly after a new technocratic government was sworn in under a deal to end months of political instability. – Rappler.com