The Tunisian Economy Records a Contraction of 10%

  • Tunis, Republic of Tunisia
  • 2 December 2020
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The Central Bank of Tunisia decided to keep the main interest rate unchanged at 6.25 percent, indicating that the national economic and financial situation is characterized by uncertainty, and the effects of the second wave of the new virus (Covid-19) will continue to affect economic activity.

At the beginning of last October, the Tunisian Central Bank lowered the main interest rate from 6.75 to 6.25 percent, with the aim of encouraging investment and supporting economic activity. The Tunisian Central Bank revealed that economic growth declined during the third quarter of this year by 6 percent, and on this basis the Tunisian economy would have recorded an unprecedented contraction of 10 percent at reference prices during the first nine months of the current year against a growth of 1.1 percent compared to the same period in 2019.

According to the Tunisian Central Bank, the inflation rate stabilized at 5.4 percent during the month of October 2020, for the third month in a row, compared to 6.5 percent a year ago. It also revealed a remarkable increase in Tunisia's net foreign exchange reserves, as it reached by the end of last November 22.375 billion dinars (8.287 billion dollars), which covers about 154 days of the country's imports, compared to 18.999 billion dinars (7.36 billion dollars) during last year.

Source (Al-Arab Newspaper-London, Edited)

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