Hedi Nouira

Hedi Nouira joined the Neo-Destour party at its inception in the 1930s and was imprisoned multiple times in French military camps alongside Bourguiba. Following independence, he was entrusted with creating Tunisia's monetary sovereignty, establishing the Central Bank of Tunisia in 1958 and issuing the national currency, the dinar.

Appointed Prime Minister in 1970 after the abandonment of collectivization, Nouira instituted liberal economic reforms, fostered manufacturing exports, and presided over a decade of sustained 7% annual economic expansion, building Tunisia's prosperous middle class.