As part of the monitoring indicators of the external sector, the Executive Board of the Central Bank of Tunisia (BCT) noted the absence of signs of relaxation in the current account deficit.
On the contrary, it has experienced a widening deficit of 29.3% over the first seven months of the year, reaching 4,950 MTD or the equivalent of 6% of GDP against 3,829 MTD and 5% of GDP in the same period last year.
According to the Central Bank, this trend is attributable to the continued expansion of the deficit in the trade balance, which increased by 18.2% in relation to the continuing expansion of the energy deficit on the one hand, following the decline in exports of crude oil (-11%) and increased purchases of natural gas (66.9%), and worsening of the deficit of the food balance (+ 68.8%) on the other.
