Growth in 2024 could pick up to 2.5% on the back of a strong tourism sector, phosphate sales and an agreement with the International Monetary Funf (IMF), reads a report published on Wednesday by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). However, the EBRD said Tunisia’s economic growth is expected to average 1.9% in 2023, down from a modest post-pandemic recovery of 2.4% in 2022, as adverse external conditions, high inflation and social unrest weigh on the economic outlook. “Despite an expansion in tourism, financial services and the industrial sector, the slowdown has been driven by a contraction in agriculture and mining,” the bank pointed out. Unemployment declined slightly to 15.6% in the Q2 of 2023 but inflation reached 9.1% year on year in July 2023. The macro-fiscal situation deteriorated in 2022, with increased government spending (notably the wage bill and subsidies), leading to a budget deficit of 7.6% of GDP, while public debt reached 80% of GDP in 2022. As a result, the country saw downgrades by rating agencies in 2022 and 2023, while agreement on an IMF-supported programme has been further delayed, the bank added.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse