The Tunisian president Kais Saied on Wednesday sacked its Finance Minister Sihem Boughdiri, and named a judge, Michkat Khaldi, as the new finance minister.
Khaldi took the oath before the president at Carthage Palace, the presidency said in a statement.
Boughdiri has been in office since 2021.
Boughdiri’s dismissal comes as the North African country’s public finances face a severe crisis that has led to shortages of key commodities including sugar, rice, coffee and cooking gas.
Khaldi, a judge has been since last year the head of the Criminal Reconciliation Committee, which was established by the president to try to reach a settlement with businessmen accused of corruption in exchange for returning funds to the state.
To mobilize resources this year, the government raised taxes on middle- and high-income earners and resorted to borrowing directly from the central bank worth $2.2 billion to pay urgent debts.
