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President Kais Saied appointed his equipment and housing minister, Sarra Zaafrani Zenzri, as the new premier, according to a statement from his cabinet.
A German-educated engineer, Zenzri is the second woman to head Tunisia's government.
She replaces Kamel Madouri, who was appointed in August 2024. In the statement, the president said he hoped the change would allow for better coordination of government efforts.
Madouri was Tunisia's third prime minister since 2022, when Saied reformed the constitution to formalize near total powers he assumed a year earlier.
The Tunisian president has ordered authorities to tap funding from the central bank to help repay foreign creditors after he ditched talks with the International Monetary Fund for a $1.9 billion bailout program in 2023.
Tunisia's €700 million ($759 million) of bonds maturing in July next year trade at a yield of around 9.8%, high relative to most other governments.
Funding from the likes of Saudi Arabia and Afreximbank has helped bolster the country's finances in recent years. In late February, Moody's Ratings upgraded Tunisia's rating to Caa1 from Caa2 — leaving it still well within junk territory. It cited lower external-financing requirements and stronger foreign-exchange buffers.
The country has faced deepening economic and political malaise since experiencing the first of the Arab Spring revolts in 2011. Financing needs surged, mostly to provide public sector jobs and meet a key demand of the revolutionaries.
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