Tunisia has cut its GDP growth expectation for 2021 to 2.6%, down from a previous forecast of 4%, according a document seen by Reuters. Tunisia faces its the worst economic crisis after its economy contracted 8.8% last year and the fiscal deficit reached a record 11.4%. The fiscal deficit in the latest forecast will reach 8.3% in 2021, up from 6.6% expected earlier, the document showed. Tunisia this month resumed talks with the International Monetary Fund on a loan package predicated on Tunis imposing painful and unpopular steps aimed at liberalising the economy. Talks with the IMF on a package were halted on July 25 when President Kais Saied, faced with protracted government paralysis, dismissed the cabinet, suspended parliament and assumed executive authority. The document added that the debt ratio would reach 85.6% of GDP by the end of the year compared to 79.5% previously expected. It showed fuel subsidies rose from $138 million earlier this year $1.15 billion. ($1 = 2.8820 Tunisian dinars) (Reporting by Tarek Amara; Writing by Ahmad Elhamy; editing by David Evans and Giles Elgood)