The current account deficit is expected to be around 4% of GDP for the whole of 2023, compared with 8.7% of GDP in 2022, according to the note on economic and monetary developments published by the Central Bank of Tunisia on Thursday.
Indeed, “the narrowing of the trade deficit from 17 to TND 11.5 billion (or 11.8% of GDP) between the first 9 months of 2022 and 2023 and the consolidation of the services balance have contributed significantly to the marked reduction in the current account deficit,” the BCT explained.
As a reminder, the current account deficit stood at TND 3.4 billion (2.2% of GDP) at the end of September 2023, compared to TND 10.3 billion (7.2% of GDP) in September 2022.
It should be noted that the consolidation of the services balance is due to the recovery of tourism receipts, which totaled $1.879 billion at the end of September 2023, compared with $1.313 billion a year earlier, exceeding the 2019 performance ($1.775 billion).
Similarly, workers’ remittances (in cash) totaled $ 1.850 billion in September 2023, compared with $ 1.786 billion in September 2022, and this dynamic has contributed to the consolidation of foreign exchange reserves. The latter stood at TND 26.7 billion (119 days of imports) at the end of September 2023, compared with TND 22.9 billion (100 days) at the end of 2022. “Excluding energy, the current account recorded a historic surplus of TND +4.1 billion (+2.6% of GDP) at the end of September 2023, compared with a deficit of TND 3.3 billion (2.3% of GDP) in the same period last year”.
