Tunisia

Despite their significant presence in the Tunisian economy, SMEs continue to face difficulties in financing their development. Aware of these challenges, the authorities are looking to provide SMEs with alternative sources of financing outside of the banking sector, which has been limited in its ability to finance such enterprises. To this end...

The Tunis Stock Exchange (Bourse des Valeurs Mobilières de Tunis, BVMT) is the local stock market, and although it was originally established in 1969 as a public entity, it has been a private entity since 1994, jointly and equally owned by 23 brokerage firms.

While Tunisia has faced weak economic growth and high inflation in recent years, the country’s stock market continued to grow over the 2016-17 period, even though its contribution to private investment financing remains relatively modest compared to that of the banking sector. Measures to deepen the market, however, are under way, aiming to...

Tunisia’s banking sector has experienced positive growth in recent years, with 2017 proving to be another strong period on many fronts. Several risks, however, still threaten the sustainability of this growth trend and the overall health of the sector, including a reduction in available liquidity, low levels of capitalisation and credit risk...

In the 20 years since the Tunisian market opened to foreign investors in 1997, the bourse has seen limited interventions. At the end of September 2017 around 24% of market capitalisation was held by international investors; however, if those figures are adjusted with the strategic participation of the Castel Group in brewery Société de...

Since 2010 retail lending has been growing faster than total lending in Tunisia, indicating a change in consumption patterns within the population despite a broader context of slow economic growth. In addition, banks – which continue to dominate the financial system and lending to the economy – have been adjusting their credit risk-control...