The draft State budget for 2020 requires the mobilization of loans amounting to 11,248 million dinars (MD), including 2,400 MD of internal borrowing and the remaining of external one.
The public indebtedness volume will reach 74% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by the end of 2020, against 75% and 77% in 2019 and 2018, respectively, according to data provided by the Finance Ministry.
The Youssef Chahed government had submitted draft finance and State budget laws for 2020 to the House of People’s Representatives (HPR) following their adoption by a cabinet meeting on October 14, before the constitutional deadlines set on October 15 each year.
The 2020 State Budget is estimated at 47.227 billion Tunisian dinars, up by 9.5% compared with the previous year.
The State budget-making process is based on scenarios concerning the updated results of 2019, following the recorded results during the first months of 2019.
In this draft budget, the government built upon economic indicators, such as the 2.7% growth rate at constant prices, against an updated rate of 1.4% for this year, in addition to the annual average price of Brent oil ($65 the barrel) and the 9% rise of imports, compared with 9.7%, updated in 2019.
The State draft budget did not reveal the exchange rate of the Tunisian dinar for the third successive year so as to avoid speculations.
The revenues of the State budget come from a 9.2% rise in the tax revenues, standing at 31,759 MD divided into direct taxes (13,662 MD) and indirect taxes (18,097 MD).
The non-tax revenues, standing at 3,800 MD, are divided into gas and oil revenues (1,250 MD), participation revenues (1,389 MD), revenues from seized assets (150 MD) and foreign donations (300 MD).
The management expenditures for 2020 are estimated to reach 28,263 MD, up 5.1% compared with results updated in 2019.
These expenditures are distributed over salary expenditures (19,030 MD), i.e. 15.2% of the GDP, against 17,165 MD for the updated results, and subsidy expenditures (4,180 MD), divided into basic products (1,800 MD), hydrocarbons and electricity (1,880 MD) and public transport (500 MD).
The draft State budget allocated 6,900 MD for the development expenditures, 11,678 MD for public debt services and 767 MD for emergency expenditures.
The budgetary deficit is estimated at 3,782 MD in 2020 (3% of the GDP), against 4,071 MD, or 3.5% (updated in 2019) and 4.8% in 2018, given the ongoing downward trend of the public debt ratio.
