Tunisia’s budget deficit reached 10 billion dinars in 2024, recording 6% compared to 2023, where it amounted to 11.4 billion dinars. This is indicated by a note published by the Ministry of Finance on the provisional results of the execution of the state budget at the end of December 2024.
This slight improvement in budgetary balances is explained by a more sustained growth in public resources compared to expenses. Indeed, budgetary revenues increased by 8.7%, reaching 47 billion dinars, against 43.2 billion a year earlier.
This dynamic is mainly driven by the increase in tax revenue, up 9.7% to 41.7 billion dinars, while non -tax revenues increased by 3.3%, to be 4.6 billion dinars.
On the spending side, budgetary charges increased 4.6%, amounting to 56.4 billion dinars at the end of the financial year. Among the largest positions are remuneration, which increased slightly by 2.6%to reach 22.2 billion dinars, social interventions (+4%, to 19 billion), debt interest (+7.8%, 6.2 billion) and investment expenditure (+7.4%, 6 billion).
Regarding cash resources, they increased by 10%, from 26.1 billion to 28.8 billion dinars. They mainly come from interior loans (23.2 billion dinars). These funds were used as a priority to reimburse the principal of the debt (64.3%, or 18.5 billion dinars), as well as to cover the budget deficit (32.7%, or 9.4 billion).
Notable fact: the outstanding public debt recorded a slight withdrawal, representing 81.2% of GDP in 2024, against 84.6% in 2023, reflecting a relative stabilization of public finances despite persistent economic tensions.
