Tunisian President Saied has appointed Fathi Zouhair Nouri, an economics professor, as the new central bank chief amid a deepening economic crisis. This appointment follows disagreements over the urgency of securing an IMF bailout. Tunisia faces a challenging situation, with GDP contracting by 0.2% in Q4 2023 and stalled talks with the IMF over a USD 1.9 bln loan. Meanwhile, the government has also been authorized to borrow from the central bank to help meet its foreign debt obligations.