TUNIS - (Xinhua) - Tunisian Minister of Economy and Planning, Samir Said, considered (Tuesday) that Tunisia no longer has other options but to implement the economic reform program submitted to the International Monetary Fund.

The official Tunisian news agency quoted this evening, Saeed, as saying during his participation in an international symposium organized by the Confederation of Citizenship Institutions (Connect) on the issue of internationalizing the activities of institutions, “We presented a detailed reform program because we lost our credibility with the International Monetary Fund over the past years, and this time we will commit to implementing it.” Otherwise, the future of her children will depend on it," he said.

He explained that the financial agreement with the International Monetary Fund, amounting to $1.9 billion, will be disbursed over a period of 48 months, and will be withdrawn in several installments, according to the progress of the reform program.

In this context, he considered that "the disbursement of the loan according to a system of installments ranging between 180 and 200 million dollars will ensure the implementation of reforms, and that the government will implement it within the framework of complete transparency with the International Monetary Fund."

On the other hand, the Tunisian minister affirmed that the International Monetary Fund "did not impose any dictates on Tunisia, and that the only recommendation issued by it is the need to support social security, and we can only appreciate this recommendation."

On October 15, the International Monetary Fund announced that it had reached a preliminary agreement at the expert level with Tunisia to grant it a $1.9 billion loan to support its economic policies.

And he considered that this loan, which will be repaid over four years, "remains linked to the approval of the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund, which is scheduled to discuss Tunisia's request next December."

Last July, Tunisia began negotiations with the International Monetary Fund in an effort to reach an agreement with it on a loan ranging between two billion and four billion dollars.