The provisional results of the execution of the State budget up to the end of June 2010 show that the State’s own resources (excluding donations and confiscations) increased by 10.4% to 22,724 million dinars.
Operating and investment expenditure (excluding debt repayments) grew at a slower rate than revenue, increasing by 8.2% to 22,235 million dinars.
As a result, the budget balance (excluding grants and confiscations) stood at 488.5 million dinars, compared to a surplus of 26.3 million dinars at 30 June 2023. The budget balance for 2023 as a whole was a deficit of 11,286 million dinars.
The State budget, including the financing cycle and one-off items (donations and confiscations), amounted to 30,743 million dinars as at 30 June 2024, i.e. 39% of the budget planned for the whole of 2024.
As regards own resources, tax revenues rose by 10.3%, reflecting a 15.9% increase in direct taxes (IRPP: +9.9% and corporate taxes: +31.8%) and an 11.2% increase in indirect taxes.
Non-tax revenues (excluding grants and confiscations) rose by 11.2% to 1,853 million dinars, boosted by income from holdings, which increased by 170% to 1,239 million dinars (compared to 459.2 million dinars at June 30, 2023), including 1,057 million dinars from the Central Bank (compared to 406.7 million dinars at 30 June 2023).
On the current expenditure side, civil service wages and salaries increased by 3.6% to 11,240 million dinars, representing 14.2% of estimated GDP on an annualized basis in 2024.
Intervention expenditure (transfers and subsidies) increased by 8.1% to 5,070 million dinars, representing 26% (as of 30 June 2023) of the total programmed for 2024.
Capital expenditure decreased by 0.4% to 1,836 million dinars. Interest payments on public debt increased by 36% to 3,270 million dinars. On the other hand, revenues in the form of grants remained at their level of 530.8 million dinars at the end of March 2024.
The budget balance, including grants, was therefore positive at 1,019 million dinars. At the same time, principal servicing of the public debt amounted to 8,301 million dinars.
Expenditure on net loans and advances to the Treasury was limited to 206.8 million dinars.
Other liquid assets showed a negative balance of 4,775 million dinars.
In total, the State’s financing needs for the first six months of the year amounted to 12,264 million dinars, which the State covered by borrowing:
– 11,166 million dinars on the domestic market, including 3,905 million dinars in 52-week BTC, 778.3 million dinars in BTA, 2,483 million dinars in domestic loans, 3,500 million dinars from the Central Bank and 500 million dinars in the form of a syndicated foreign currency loan from 16 local banks.
– 1,097 million dinars in external borrowing, including mainly 961 million dinars in external borrowing earmarked for state projects, external loans on-lent to public enterprises, including 30.2 million dinars to the Cereals Board. Budget support loans totaled 14.1 million dinars, all from the World Bank.
As a result, in the first half of 2024, the local market provided 91% of the government’s borrowing, while the foreign market provided only 9%, compared with 41.7% and 58.3%, respectively, initially envisaged in the 2024 Finance Law.
It should be noted that the 2024 Finance Law predates Law 2024-10 of February 7, 2024, which authorizes the Central Bank to grant overdraft facilities to the General Treasury of Tunisia.
