TUNIS, May 30, 2012 (AFP) - Tunisian Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali on Wednesday criticised Standard & Poor's decision to downgrade the country's rating, saying it was punishing the country's fledgling democracy.
The ratings agency on May 23 had cut Tunisia to a speculative 'BB/B' level due to political uncertainty and weaker economic outlook.
"Today we're going through a post-revolutionary phase. It is natural that there should be troubles, strikes and sit-ins. But this looks like democracy is being punished," Jebali said on television.
He insisted that "all the economic indicators show that there is progress."
A popular uprising led to the ouster in January 2011 of long-time dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, tipping the first domino of the so-called Arab Spring which is still sweeping the region.
Jebali pointed out that Standard & Poor's had granted Ben Ali's Tunisia a BBB+ rating in 1994.
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