The Executive Board of the Central Bank of Tunisia (BCT) highlighted at its meeting on August 3, 2021, the contraction of the current account deficit to around 3.4% of GDP during the first half of the year, compared to 3.9% for the same period last year.
The current account balance benefited from the improvement in the surplus of the balance of factor incomes and current transfers following the significant increase in labor income, while the balance of services continued to decline, in relation to the continuing impact of the health crisis on the tourism sector. This is besides the widening of the trade deficit due to the evolution of foreign trade.
In addition, says the BCT, the decline in the mobilization of foreign currency resources, in the form of loans and foreign investment, and the significant repayments made in July 2021 under the foreign debt, have been reflected in the balance of external payments. This brought net foreign exchange reserves to 20,515 million dinars or 129 days of imports at the end of July 2021 against 21,190 million dinars and 140 days of imports in the same period of the previous year.
