Tunisia's net external financing fell from TND 842.2 million at the end of March 2022 to TND 596.2 million at the end of March 2023, according to a note on the provisional results of the execution of the State budget at the end of March 2023 recently published by the Finance Ministry. This decline is mainly due to the drop in external credits from TND 1,568 million in the first three months of 2022 to TND 374.5 million in the same period in 2023. However, repayments rose to TND 970.7 million at the end of March 2023. The external borrowing resources raised during the first three months of 2023 comprise, according to the same document, budget support loans (TND 43.4 million) from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the French Development Agency (AFD), as well as credits earmarked for State projects (TND 328.8 million). On the other hand, the value of external debt servicing rose by 26.8% to TND 1,602.2 million during the first quarter of 2023. At the end of March, external debt servicing was broken down into repayment of the principal of the debt worth TND 970.7 million (+33.8%) and interest worth TND 631.5 million (+17.5%). Debt servicing (medium- and long-term for the current year) is expected to increase by 46.9%, or TND 6,741 million compared with 2022, to reach TND 2,100 million by the end of 2023, while cash financing requirements are estimated at TND 2,390 million. Budget support credits are estimated at TND 13,059 million.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse