At its Executive Board meeting on March 30, the Central Bank of Tunisia noted that “the national economy was characterized during the first months of the current year by the appearance of first signs of a slight improvement in industrial sector activity and this, along with the continuing deterioration in services, particularly tourism and air transport. “
In this context, the main economic indicators on the evolution of industrial activity observed during the month of February 2016 show an increase in capital goods imports (13.3% yoy against a decline of 3.2% in February 2015) and raw materials and semi-finished products (12% against 1%).
In addition, exports of textiles, clothing, leather and footwear registered a slight recovery (2.1% against -4.3%), while exports of mechanical and electrical industries grew but at a slower pace than the previous year (7.8% against 9.8%).
Regarding the general index of industrial production (IIP), recent estimates available in December 2015 show a contraction in the index in 2015, at a pace more pronounced than a year earlier, i.e. -1.7% against -1%, reflecting the deterioration of mining production (-10%) and the decline in energy production (-5.9%), against a slight rise in manufacturing production (0.1% ).
