Tunisia has repaid all its 2023 domestic and external debts despite all public finance constraints in 2023 and the difficulty to access foreign funding," Finance Minister Sihem Nemsia said on Monday. "In 2023, public finances faced major challenges due to a very tense regional and international context and an exacerbation of climate change, leading to a rise in inflation rates and in the prices of staple commodities on a global scale," she added at the opening of a debate on "2024 Finance Law and new tax provisions" held on Monday in Tunis by the Tunisia Council of Joint Chambers (CCM). "All these constraints have had a major impact on Tunisia's financial balance, sharply reducing the authorities' room for manoeuvre in controlling debt levels and meeting essential and sometimes unpredictable public expenditure, despite the good results achieved in raising tax resources and improving the performance of some sectors (services, tourism, etc.)," she pointed out. Nemsia indicated that "the Tunisian project of major reforms is a global project characterised by a balanced vision between a social component placing the middle class and vulnerable groups among its top priorities, and an economic component aimed at rewarding work and boosting private initiative and wealth creation." The Finance Law 2024 fits in with this approach and seeks to ensure a balance between two fundamental challenges: Reboot the economy and restore the investor's confidence, and gradually rebalance public finances by encouraging comprehensive and sustainable development, combating the financial exclusion of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), establishing a system that enshrines tax justice, combating tax evasion and integrating the informal economy. This law seeks to "maximise tax benefites by gearing them towards promising sectors such as renewables, green, blue and circular economies and sustainable development." "It also aims to further enshrine the social role of the State by supporting the financial inclusion of vulnerable and low-income groups, guaranteeing the supply of staple commodities to the market and adopting alternative instruments to finance subsidy expenditure," she said. "The 2024 Finance Law also provides for a number of measures to support the agriculture, fisheries and water resources sector, by continuing to support small farmers, facilitating their access to financing and reducing the tax burden on certain fodder products," Nemsia underlined. However, this law failed to provide measures to remove tax benefits granted to economic operators or to increase the tax burden, the FinMin considered, adding that "Quite the contrary, it has introduced a range of measures aimed at supporting companies in order to preserve their survival, support their restructuring, improve their cash flow, ease their access to finance and encourage private initiative." Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse Along Nyawira street of Narok town, you will discover a yard with a group of men, busy as bees, making school furniture. Workers at the workshop have a target of making at least eight school lockers per day, owing to the high demand for furniture in schools. The yard owner Samuel Ocharo acknowledged minting millions of shillings from the school furniture business, owing to the increasing demand for lockers, desks, chairs and tables in schools. Ocharo said he opted for metallic furniture instead of wood as many of the schools are abandoning wood for metal, since it is more durable. He added that this move has also been necessitated by the inadequacy of the wood that was previously used to make the lockers and chairs. 'Majority of schools in Narok town are now requesting that we use metal to make the school desks as the durability of these equipment is better than wooden equipment,' said Ocharo. Following the increase in demand Ocharo confessed to have made a profit amounting to millions of shillings dur ing the school opening season as the demand for lockers, desks and chairs was very high. 'I aim to guarantee that my customers are satisfied. I ensure that the lockers are of high quality and comfortable to the learners. This has earned me credibility with my customers,' he said. The demand, he said, is also catalyzed by the new Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) that has resulted in the establishment of Junior Secondary Schools, where the demand for lockers and chairs is high. 'Our leading consumers right now are the junior secondary schools as the schools make new lockers and chairs for the students, who initially used to seat on desks,' said Ocharo. He clarified that one metallic locker retails at Sh7000 to Sh6000 depending on the size of the locker while a chair retails from Sh4,000 to Sh5000, also depending on the size. Despite the metallic furniture being slightly more expensive than the wooden ones, Ocharo said, they are more preferred since they are more durable and cost effective. 'These metalli c lockers are slightly expensive compared to the wooden ones upon purchase, but they reduce the cost of maintenance and frequent repair which makes them cost effective,' said Ocharo. The welder who has been in the business for five years now disclosed to have made over 1, 000 lockers since the schools opened for the first term 2024. He cited a particular case of Limanet Secondary School which had purchased 300 lockers and 300 chairs during the opening season. Following the high demand, Ocharo has hired three employees on contract basis and hires more casual labourers when the demand is high, to help him achieve his target. 'Each person makes between eight and ten lockers per day. When the demand is too high, I am forced to employ more casual workers who help me to meet the demand,' he said. He urged schools to embrace the use of metallic lockers and chairs in a bid to conserve the environment and have long lasting furniture. Ocharo called on his fellow Jua Kali traders to embrace this new trend to reap maximum benefits and reduce the cost of production that is related to the use of wood in making school equipment. Source: Kenya News Agency
