The Tunisian banks listed on the stock exchange topped the list of profitable institutions during the past nine months, recording a growth by 12.3 percent in profits compared to the same period last year, despite the economic crisis in the country.
The 12 banks listed in the financial market achieved net profits of 3.9 billion dinars at the end of September, compared to 3.5 billion dinars during the same period last year. Also, the combined net income of the seven listed financial leasing companies (finance institutions) increased by 5.9 percent to 334 million dinars, compared to 315 million dinars during the same period in 2020.
In parallel, the annual report issued by the Central Bank of Tunisia showed an increase of 9.1 percent in the internal debt in 2020, an increase of four percentage points compared to 2019, during which the debt growth did not exceed 5.1 percent. The report highlighted that as a result of Tunisia’s intensification of resorting to internal sources of financing from the banking system, the rate of borrowing from the financial sector increased by 16.7 percent, while debts through the issuance of treasury bonds increased by 25.9 percent last year, compared to only 2.1 percent in 2019.
Source (The New Arab Newspaper, Edited)
