The Tunisian central bank has revealed that Tunisia's foreign currency assets have shrunk to TND 10.7 billion (about $ 4.1 billion), which means that the Tunisian economy will be able to cover imports to only 70 days which is considered a record decline compared to the beginning of August of last year, when the reserve was covering about 101 days.
The Tunisian government attributed the decline in the foreign reserves at the beginning of the current year to the disbursement of funds to provide stocks of medicine, cereals, and fuel, which are indispensable strategic items, and promised to obtain a relief as of the second trimester of the current year, but the reserves of foreign exchange continued to fall to less of 90 days, the threshold that makes the indexes at risk as a result of the inability to cover imports, in light of the collapse of the local currency against the euro and the US dollar.
Tunisia froze the import of many luxury goods in a move to reduce pressure on the foreign exchange reserves, but it faces a critical shortage in other sectors of medicine as many of the kinds imported from the market disappear. Tunisia has been facing a delicate economic situation since the start of its political transition in 2011, but Prime Minister Youssef Chahed, confirmed earlier that the growth indicators began to return gradually with a breakthrough expected in early 2019.
