The Central Bank of Tunisia (BCT) announced on Tuesday a 3.6% increase in foreign currency assets, reaching 27.3 billion dinars at the end of the year 2024, against 26.4 billion a year earlier. This increase is part of a context of improving economic performance in the currency sectors, with the notable exception of the public treasury.
According to the annual financial report published by the BCT, this increase results mainly from the growth of tourism revenue and the increase in workers’ transfers abroad. These two factors allowed the BCT to acquire currencies, especially in the form of foreign banking tickets, for a value of 5.6 billion dinars.
Regarding the main external resources that were mobilized by the Treasury during the year 2024, we note:
US $ 498.7 million (approximately 1.6 billion dinars), from a loan contracted with the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) on December 31;
150 million euros (around 500 million dinars), granted in the form of a donation by the European Commission on March 1, 2024.
The main reimbursements made during the year 2024 under the service of public external debt concerned, in particular, the settlement of the principal and the interests of a number of bond emissions. Tunisia has thus made several reimbursements under the service of external debt, including:
897.8 million euros (nearly 3 billion dinars), settled on February 19, 2024, corresponding to a bond loan issued in 2017;
50.4 billion Japanese yen (approximately 1 billion dinars), reimbursed on October 9, 2024, for a loan contracted with the Japanese bank for international cooperation (JBIC) in 2014;
100 million US dollars (approximately 315 million dinars), reimbursed on May 13, 2024, for a deposit of the Bank of Algeria;
2.1 billion dinars were allocated to the reimbursement of deadlines due within the framework of the programs of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in particular the extended credit facility (FEC) and the rapid financing instrument (IFR)
