The Central Bank of Tunisia expects that inflation will continue its decline in the rest of the current year, after inflation contracted to a level of 5.4 percent during the month of August, compared to 5.7 percent in July 2020, as a result of the slowdown recorded in the level of prices development for laboratory materials, food and services.
According to the Central Bank report, the trade deficit continued to decline during the first eight months of 2020, reaching 5 percent of GDP, compared to 5.9 percent during the same period last year.
The Central Bank attributed the decline in the trade deficit to the continuing economic downturn at the national level and at the level of the most important partner countries for Tunisia under the impact of the repercussions of the Corona epidemic. The net foreign capital inflows made it possible to cover the trade deficit and support the level of net assets in foreign currency, which amounted to 21.127 billion dinars (7.6 billion dollars) compared to 17.892 billion dinars (6.2 billion dollars) during the same period last year.
The Central Bank of Tunisia had reduced the basic interest rate by 50 basis points (0.5%), to be applied in the range of 6.25%, down from 6.75%, in the second reduction since the start of the Corona pandemic in the country last March.
Source (Al-Araby Al-Jadeed Newspaper, Edited)
