Tunisia’s central bank will no longer have the exclusive power to adjust interest rates or foreign exchange policy, and must only take such action in consultation with the government, but it will be allowed to finance the treasury, a bill proposed by lawmakers showed on Friday.

The step is the latest move that will completely undermine the central bank’s independence after continuous criticism by President Kais Saied, who has said that the bank should not be a state within a state.

The potential major change in the central bank law comes as public finances face a severe crisis. The country has been unable to secure Western funding since Saied seized nearly all power in 2021, ruling by decree, in a move the opposition has called a coup.

Twenty-seven lawmakers warned that Tunisia would inevitably go bankrupt if the bank law was not changed.

They said that the current law, adopted in 2016, which does not allow the central bank to make loans to the public treasury or direct bond purchases, has led to huge losses for the state estimated at $36.6 billion.