May 21, 2021
The Governor of the Central Bank of Tunisia, Marwan al-Abbasi, urged saving the Tunisian economy during the next two months to avoid further deepening of the economic crisis in the country, and stressed the need to enter into an economic and political truce.
Today, Al-Abbasi attended the Assembly of the Representatives of the People, with a detailed diagnosis of the country’s economic and financial conditions, in a sixty-page document.
This document, which JDD Tunisia obtained a copy of, indicated a sharp decline in the economy due to the repercussions of the Corona pandemic that affected several sectors, whether exported or destined for the local market.
The growth rate reached 3 percent negative, agriculture 6,7 percent negative, the laboratory industries to 0,3 percent negative, and marketing services to 6 percent negative. The only positive indicator was achieved by the laboratory industries at a rate of more than 11 percent.
The document also highlighted the vulnerability of the agricultural season to climatic factors and the continuing impact of the health crisis on the service sector, especially tourism.
In order to reach a percentage such as that achieved in 2019, the Central Bank proposed to restore the level of activity in the strategic industries, namely phosphates and energy.
In this context, the document recorded a lack of benefit from the relatively high prices of phosphate due to the continued disruption of its activity at the beginning of the current year.
On the other hand, it indicated an improvement in energy production during the first three years, with an increase in the production of crude oil and natural gas, following the entry of the “Halq al-Manzil” field into production since January, and the contribution of the “Nawara field”, which amounted to about 30 percent of the national production of gas.
