13 April 2022; MEMO: Official data showed that Tunisia's trade deficit has ballooned, reaching 4.3 billion dinars ($1.42 billion) during the first quarter of 2022, an increase of 40.2 per cent on an annual basis.
In a statement issued yesterday, the Tunisian Institute of Statistics said that the trade deficit was in the range of 3.06 billion dinars ($1.01 billion) in the first quarter of 2021.
Tunisia's exports, it added, recorded an increase by 26.2 per cent and reached 14.08 billion dinars ($4.67 billion) in the first quarter of 2022.
The increase is mainly due to the rise of the energy sector's exports by 137.6 per cent, and the phosphate sector with its derivatives by 152.2 per cent.
On the other hand, imports have risen during the same period by 29.2 per cent and reached 18.3 billion dinars ($6.1 billion).
The statement attributed the rise in imports to the increase recorded in energy imports by 87.2 per cent, along with raw materials and semi-manufactured materials by 36.7 per cent.
The value of the Tunisian dinar has deteriorated against the US dollar, where the value of the dollar exceeded three Tunisian dinars, negatively affecting Tunisia's hard currency reserves.
According to data from the Central Bank of Tunisia, foreign exchange reserves amounted to 22.9 billion dinars ($7.62 billion).
