TUNIS, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- The current deficit of the Tunisian economy has surged in the first eight months of this year to 6.6 percent of the country's GDP against 5.8 percent during the same period of 2016, the Central Bank of Tunisia (BCT) said Friday.
This aggravation is mainly attributed to the increase in the trade deficit of 10 billion dinars (4 billion dollars) for the first eight months of 2017 against 8 billion dinars during the same period one year ago, according to a BCT manager.
However, the trade balance of services have turned green with a surplus of 1.8 billion dinars following, in particular, the growth of 22.3 percent of tourism receipts and 12.6 percent of transfers of residents abroad.
Once persistent, cautioned some Tunisian analysts, the current deficit could cross the bar of 15 percent of the GDP, which is unheard of for the Tunisian economy.
