Today the term ‘Minister of Finance,’ is used ironically for a woman who overspends, or is a compliment if she knows how to manage family finances and save money. Sit back and imagine the situation if a woman was to be given the responsibility of managing the budget of the entire country. This is now the case in Tunisia after its government appointed Lamia Boujenah Zribi to become the country’s Minister of Finance.
A male-dominated ministry
This is the first time in the history of Tunisia that a woman has been appointed to take the seat of Minister of Finance. Zribi has a rich experience in the field of banking, an extensive resume in the field of finance and economics. She also studied administrative and economic sciences.
Her appointment has broken the male monopoly in one of the major industries in Tunisia, racking up the fact that no woman in the Arab world has been appointed to lead the finance ministry except for Raya Haffar Al Hassan in Lebanon.
Obstacles
Minister Zribi faced many hitches since she assumed duties as finance minister in August 2016, due to the lack of financial revenues in the state budget. The existing resources were hardly sufficient to meet basic expenses and rumors spread that the state can no longer afford to pay the salaries of its employees. However what was worse was when economic analysts appeared on television to sound the alarms about the state being on the verge of bankruptcy if it failed to carry out speedy reforms.
Solutions
Confident and assuring of being able to handle the crisis, Zribi is a woman who takes sturdy actions. She often appears on television programs to defend the government decisions and advise the people on solutions to overcome the financial situation. The finance minister usually encourages the people to work harder, get the wheels of investment moving or resorting to loans. She strongly believes that Tunisia can still achieve the highest levels of growth and development.
Recent reports confirm that minister Zribi announced that the government is planning to lay off 10,000 public sector employees during 2017. She affirmed however this will be made voluntarily and through the encouragement of early retirement and voluntary layoff programs.
