Unprecedented Growth in Bills of Exchange in Tunisia in the First Half of 2025
The use of bills of exchange in Tunisia has seen an unprecedented increase in the first half of 2025, while the use of checks continues to decline, according to data published by the Central Bank of Tunisia (BCT) in its "Paiements en chiffres" bulletin.
Key Statistics
- The number of bills of exchange used increased by 155%, reaching 2.1 million operations with a total value of 25.6 billion dinars.
- In contrast, the number of checks issued decreased by 66.8%, with 4 million checks for a value of 27.6 billion dinars.
- The value of bank transfers increased by 9.7%, totaling 37.6 billion dinars for 18.5 million operations.
Analysis by Financial Expert Moez Hadidane
Financial analyst Moez Hadidane noted that all payment methods, except checks, saw a cumulative increase of 24.5 billion dinars. The decline in check transactions, which decreased by 34 billion dinars, is mainly attributed to the entry into force of the new check law in February 2025.
Decline in Check Usage
The number and value of checks have significantly decreased in the first half of 2025, with 4 million checks issued compared to 12 million during the same period in 2024. The rate of rejected checks also decreased, from 4.1% in the first quarter to 0.8% in the second quarter. Hadidane provided detailed figures on the value and number of accepted and rejected checks, confirming a significant reduction in payment incidents.
Bills of Exchange
The rejection rate for bills of exchange stood at 10.6% in number for the first half of 2025, compared to 11.6% for the entire year of 2024. In terms of value, 1.8 million bills were issued, compared to 2.1 million during the same period. The number of rejected bills of exchange reached 222,000 out of 2.1 million, compared to 95,000 out of 830,000 in the first half of 2024, indicating that the settlement capacity remains limited for a portion of operations.
Legislative Changes and Future Reforms
Hadidane emphasized that legislative changes only affected the check law, without impacting bills of exchange. He added that changes can be considered to improve the efficiency of bills of exchange, and that four major reforms could reduce the rejection rate by half without resorting to criminal sanctions.
