Remittances from Tunisians living abroad totaled 4.3 billion dinars at the end of the first seven months of the current year, an increase of 4% compared with the same period in 2002 (+171 million dinars).
Expressed in euros, remittances from the Tunisian diaspora totaled 1.3 billion euros (average monthly rate on the interbank market = 3.3475 dinars for 1 euro), i.e. 160 million euros more than the income generated by the tourism sector during the same period.
Remittances from the diaspora remain a vital source of income for Tunisia to cope with the erosion of its foreign exchange reserves.
In fact, remittances cover 82% of the cumulative debt service up to the end of July, which is of course repaid in foreign currency.
