TUNIS, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Tunisia's statistic agency has said it expected the Tunisian economy to grow by over 2 percent this year, despite high unemployment and inflation rates.
The North African country's economy grew 1.9 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2017 with contributions from the agricultural and service sectors, the National Institute of Statistics (INS) said Tuesday.
Foreign trade registered a year-on-year growth rate of 15.9 percent in the first seven months this year, the agency said, adding that the unemployment rate reached 15.5 percent while inflation stood at 5.6 percent by July this year.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission in Tunisia said in February that Tunisia's economic growth is expected to pick up, while significant macroeconomic challenges linger.
The IMF mission said Tunisia could finish the current year with an economic growth of 2.5 percent, an increase from 1.3 percent in 2016.
The Tunisian government announced in April a new investment law to boost the country's economy which was gradually recovering from the unrest in 2011.
