"I have information that Tunis is seriously considering the issue of joining the BRICS group. This is being considered along with other possibilities, and this is not ruled out," Mahmoud Ben Mabrouk said, citing informed sources in the Tunisian government.
Tunisian President Kais Saied said earlier this month that he would not accept "diktats" from the IMF and warned that subsidy cuts are unacceptable and would lead to greater impoverishment of the Tunisian population and possible unrest in the country.
Saied said at the time that he would not accept the terms of the IMF loan because it required cuts to food and energy subsidies. He pointed out that in 1983, deadly riots spread across Tunisia after the government raised the price of bread. "Public peace is not a game," he added.