Tunisia's prime minister says that authorities believe plots aimed at massive deaths and destruction of the country's economy are in the works, and justify the state of emergency declared after a second deadly attack on tourists in three months.

Habib Essid, addressing parliament on Wednesday, implied that personal freedoms guaranteed by the constitution should not be affected by the "exceptional measures."

The state of emergency was declared on Saturday, days after the July 26 attack on a hotel in Sousse that killed 38 tourists. That came three months after an attack on a museum near Tunis that killed 22.

Essid said authorities believe Tunisia faces "terrorist plots with the objective of creating instability ... and operations aimed at killing as many people as possible and destroying ... the economy."