The Central Bank of Tunisia has revealed that the pattern of growth of the Tunisian economy will slightly decline during the current year compared to last year, and will be less than two per cent due to several factors hindering the economic recovery in the country.
The annual report released by the Tunisian Central Bank forecast Tunisia's economic growth to remain below 2 per cent due to the real investment prospects recorded at the local level. International financial institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, had forecast an economic growth of 2.8 per cent this year, differing the government expectations with 3 percentage points.
The Central Bank of Tunisia expected a moderate increase in industrial production, which witnessed a decline in the past year, caused by the impact of the decline of production of the automotive industry in the EU on the Tunisian sector of mechanical and electrical industries, which is mainly export oriented. The central bank is betting on a rise in the imports of non-resident industries in Tunisia during the last trimester of 2018 and is expected to push towards boosting the industrial production in the coming months. According to the Central Bank's report, the balance of trade deficit stood at 19 billion Tunisian dinars during the past year, representing about 17.9 percent of the GDP.
Source: (Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper, Edited)
