Tunisia

The country is working to gradually improve its economic indicators by implementing tough, yet necessary, structural reforms. Although significant strides have been made since 2011, Tunisia continues to face acute macroeconomic imbalances. While reform efforts have suffered from changing administrations in the years following the revolution, in 2018...

With the government enacting far-reaching reforms in early 2018 to help quicken the restoration of macroeconomic equilibrium, it is hoped that any short-term negative impact of the changes will be mitigated by the recovery of key industries, including tourism and phosphates. Growth for 2018 is projected to rise to 3%, according to the IMF, or 2.8%...

While the number of debit cards and credit cards in circulation has increased in recent years, obstacles to electronic payments remain, particularly in Tunisia’s in-land governorates, which suffer from limited banking services. Other factors, such as a cultural bias against banks and electronic payments, contribute to relatively low banking...

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 measures...

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.