Tunisia
Tunisia country policy
Policy established 14 December 2009
- No Restrictions
- The country ceiling is 1500 mln euro
- Early warning signal 1100 mln euro
- - of which was used as at 2010-01-31 2 mln euro
Country class: 3
Tunisia country facts
Atradius DSB Economic Research
Country Report last updated : 23 November 2009
Country : TUNISIA
Political Situation
Stable
Head of state
President Zine al-Abedine Ben Ali (since November 1987)
Form of government
Technocrat RCD-government, led by PM Mohammed Ghannouchi (since November 1999)
Internal Economic Situation
Slowing Economic Growth
General situation
GDP-growth will decelerate sharply from 4.6% in 2008 to 0.9% this year due to falling exports. As over 80% of export is going to Europe the recession in some countries has a major impact on export revenues. A major source of foreign direct investment is the oil producing Arab states, who themselves are effected by the liquidity squeeze. Some of the mega projects in real estate, which the government have planned and involving some Arab developers will probably be delayed or postponed. This year growth is supported by the government. Government spending is high due to infrastructural projects. Inflation will decline to 3.7% this year from 5% in 2008 due to lower food and fuel costs. Rather weak banking sector, with non-performing loans at 17.3% of total loans at end 2007. The still large state intervention in the economy and poor access to finance discourages private sector investment.
External Economic Situation
Satisfactory
Main sources of foreign exchange
Textiles (35%), petroleum & derivatives (14%). Tourism and remittances.
Main foreign markets
EU (83%): France (31%), Italy (21%), Germany (9%) and Spain (6%).
Main expenses of foreign exchange
Food, machinery, petroleum (12%).
Balance of payments
Large trade deficits are partly compensated by tourism revenues and remittances. High foreign direct investments more then compensate the financing need from CA deficits. The dinar is managed floating (regular CB-interventions) towards a currency basket, of which 2/3 is composed by the euro. Rather stable exchange rate.
