The Tunisian Institute of Statistics (governmental) revealed that the trade deficit in Tunisia decreased by 33 percent during the first seven months of this year, as the deficit reached about 7.567 billion Tunisian dinars (2.7 billion dollars), after it was in the range of 11.163 billion dinars (about 4 billion dollars) during the same period last year.
The ratio of import coverage to exports improved by 3.5 percent, reaching about 74 percent, while exports declined at the end of July by 19.5 percent, and imports in turn declined by no less than 23.2 percent.
According to the governmental institute, exports of the textile, clothing and leather sector decreased by 24 percent, and the mechanical and electrical industries sector decreased by 25.4 percent. As for the energy sector, its exports recorded a decline of 11.1%, as well as exports of the phosphate sector and its derivatives by 4.5%. On the other hand, exports of the agricultural and food products sector registered an increase of 10.7 percent. As for imports, they also witnessed a contraction due to the decline recorded in the level of imports of most sectors, including processing materials by 29.8%, raw materials and semi-finished products by 22.6%, consumables by 20.7%, and energy materials by 29.6%.
Source (Al-Sharq Al-Awsat Newspaper, Edited)
