AM & INS
Before the numbers, which can be made to say whatever you want, depending on the analyses and orientations of the analysts, foreign trade is first and foremost money that comes into the country, in whole or in part, to swell the state’s foreign reserves, and money that leaves the BCT and private banks to pay for imports, both public and private.
– TND 36 billion entered and TND 46 billion left in 7 months
The results of Tunisia’s foreign trade at current prices during the first seven months of 2023 show that exports reached 36,151.1 MTD, compared with 32,529.1 MTD during the first seven months of 2022.
Imports remained almost stable, with a slight increase of 0.3%, compared with a larger increase of 31.5% in the same period of 2022. In value terms, imports reached 46,379.4 MTD compared with 46,252.6 MTD in the first seven months of 2022.
– Drawing the right conclusions to remain positive
As a result of this trend, characterized by more dynamic exports (+11.1%) than imports (+0.3%), the trade deficit narrowed to a level of -10,228.3 MTD compared with -13,723.5 MTD in the first seven months of 2022.
The moral of the story is that Tunisia earned over TND 3.6 billion more in foreign currency in the seven months of the current financial year than in the first seven months of 2022, thanks to the increase in exports. At the same time, it has saved TND 126.8 million in other foreign currencies thanks to a slight fall in imports.
The INS explains the slight increase in imports (+0.3%) by the rise in imports of energy products (+0.6%), capital goods (+6.2%) and consumer goods (+4.6%), while imports of raw materials and semi-finished goods fell (-3.7%). The coverage rate rose by 7.6 points compared with the same period in 2022, to 77.9%. In our view, all this will help keep Tunisia’s foreign reserves at a sustainable level.
– More exports to Algeria and Libya, less to Morocco
Tunisia’s exports to the European Union (71.4% of total exports) increased by 15.7%. This trend is explained by higher exports to several European partners, such as France (+11.2%), Italy (+17.2%), Germany (+15.4%), Spain (+35.3%), Greece (+23.9%) and the Netherlands (43.2%).
Exports to Arab countries rose, with Algeria (+48.1%) and Libya (+7%). On the other hand, they fell with Egypt (-28.7%) and Morocco (-8.1%).
