The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has revised downwards its growth forecasts for South and East Mediterranean countries (SEMED) because of political tensions in the region and the slowdown in world trade.
In its report “Regional Economic Prospects”, the Bank, however, predicts a growth rate of 1.6% for Tunisia in 2016 which will gradually pick up to 2.5% in 2017 against 0.8% in 2015.
The tourism sector was severely affected by terrorist attacks, while ongoing industrial disputes in the mining sector as well as cutbacks in investment by foreign oil companies in the energy sector led to contractions in output of over 6 per cent on the year, said the EBRD.
Moreover, the Tunisian banking system has the highest non-performing loan (NPL) ratio in SEMED, at 16 per cent at the end of 2015, with NPLs on the rise due to the exposure of banks to the tourism sector.
