At a grocery shop in a rundown district of central Tunis, Khaola, a civil servant, bemoaned recurring shortages of basic foods and the soaring prices that have forced her to stop buying meat and fruit.
“There was a period when you could not find flour or semolina, now it’s better but they only give you two packets,” said the divorced mother of two teenagers. “There is no sugar, and rice is scarce. Prices are so high, I can no longer afford meat or tuna and I haven’t bought fruit for a month.”
The Ukraine war has dealt a severe blow to Tunisia’s economy which was badly scarred by coronavirus and had been moribund for years before the pandemic. Increases in global food and energy prices sparked by the conflict pushed inflation up to a record 8.1 per cent in June, adding to the burden on a population which has seen its living standards plummet over the past decade since Tunisia’s 2011 revolution against autocratic rule.