Tunis, Sept. 16 (TAP)- President of the Republic Kaïs Saïed received Tuesday in Carthage Premier Sarra Zaafrani Zenzri and Minister of Economy and Planning Samir Abdelhafidh.

The meeting focused on the draft finance law for next year, the Presidency said in a press release.

Budgetary choices need to fit within the approved five-year plan to secure regional balance, employment and the dignity of citizens, in line with the sovereign national guidelines, the Head of State said.

It is of key importance to reduce the tax burden and simplify business creation, whether communitarian enterprises or private entrepreneurship initiatives, the President of the Republic highlighted. He denounced, in this connection, bureaucratic hurdles and dilatory practices that impede entrepreneurs. 

"Any official must shoulder responsibility or step down," the President said. "Nations are built with the soul of a fighter not with shaking hands or a wait-and-see approach."

President Saïed also focused attention on corruption and those who are working relentlessly to destabilise public services, slamming the "relics of the old regime who act as victims and hang on to the nostalgia of turning back the clock." 

Commenting on recurring fires and power and water cuts this summer in spite of attempts to bring them under control, the Head of State said "this is by no means a coincidence." They are "criminal acts", he underlined.  

"They want to spead despair among citizens. Woe to those who plotted and their servants," he concluded.