Tunisia’s Minister of Investment and International Cooperation expected that his country’s economy would shrink by around 7 percent this year, noting that the number of those unemployed would rise by about 275,000, quoting a government study conducted in partnership with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
This month, Tunisia ended all restrictions on travel and movement aimed at containing the spread of the new coronavirus, while the economic sectors returned to work normally. Land, sea and air borders are set to reopen end of June.
But the vital tourism sector, which accounts for about 10 percent of the GDP, was hit hardly by the crisis.
Minister Salim el-Ezaby said that the study expects economy to shrink by 4.4 percent, but added that deflation may reach 6 or 7 percent in the supplementary finance law, which the government will present to Parliament within weeks.
The tourism industry fell by about 50 percent in the first five months of this year. The study, which was presented at a press conference, indicated that the unemployment rate will increase to 21.6%, compared to 15% recorded at the beginning of this year.
According to the Tunisian Institute of Statistics, the total value of trade exchanges amounted to about 14.921 billion dinars of exports, compared to 21.021 billion Tunisian dinars of imports.
The institute revealed the decline in foreign commercial exchanges during the past month, while exports witnessed a decline of 37.1 percent during the month of May.
