Tunisia has experienced a notable increase in its internal debt, rising by approximately 24.9% at the end of the first half of 2024, compared to 20.5% during the same period last year. This trend reflects a shift in the country’s borrowing patterns, with internal debt becoming a larger component of the overall debt portfolio.
The National Statistics Institute (INS) reports that this rise in domestic borrowing does not contribute to inflationary pressures, as these funds are channeled through national monetary institutions and subsequently integrated into the structured economic system.
In a parallel development, the Ministry of Finance has released data showing a significant decline in the share of Tunisia’s external debt.
As of June 2024, external debt accounted for less than half of the total public debt for the first time since 2010, dropping to 48.9% from 70.7% at the end of June 2019.
Overall, Tunisia’s outstanding public debt—comprising both domestic and external liabilities—reached 127.4 billion dinars, marking a 6.5% increase.
This represents the slowest rate of growth in public debt since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The decrease in external debt by 9.1% over the past year is seen as a key factor in this slowdown.
According to financial experts, this slowdown is mainly due to the decline in the State’s external debt, which at the end of June 2024 had fallen by 9.1% compared with the same period last year, bearing in mind that Tunisia’s public debt represents 78.1% of GDP.
