Tunisia's External Debt Rate Continues to Decline
Tunisia's external debt rate, as a percentage of GDP, continued its downward trend in 2024, started in 2020, to reach 47.5% (compared to 54.6% in 2023), according to the statistical report on external debt for 2024, published on Tuesday by the Central Bank of Tunisia (BCT).
Key Findings
- The state's external debt decreased to 39.1% (compared to 44.7% in 2023).
- The long-term (LT) external debt ratio of other economic agents decreased from 9.9% to 8.4% from one year to another.
- The stock of external debt stood at 75,966 million dinars (MD) at the end of 2024, down 7.1% from its level at the end of 2023.
Breakdown of External Debt
The breakdown of long-term external debt by borrower sector revealed a predominance of public administration commitments, which accounted for 82.3% of the total external liabilities in the form of loans. This stock decreased by 6.5% compared to the end of 2023, to 62,537 MD. This evolution is due to a negative volume effect of -5,459 MD, explained by the increase in principal repayments combined with the decline in external borrowing mobilizations.
External Debt by Category of Beneficiaries
The breakdown of the stock of long-term external debt by category of beneficiaries was marked by a decline in that of public enterprises (-8.1%), to 11,476 MD, or 85.7% of the total stock of this sector. As for the stock of private enterprises, it recorded a more pronounced decline (-16.6%) to 1,907 MD, or 14.3% of the total stock of Tunisian enterprises.
Decline in External Debt Due to Various Categories of Creditors
The structure of long-term external debt, broken down by type of creditor, was marked by a decline in the stock due to various categories of creditors at the end of 2024.
Details of External Debt
- The stock of long-term external debt contracted under multilateral cooperation decreased by 1.2% to 49,279 MD at the end of 2024. However, its share in the total stock increased from 61% to 64.9% from one year to another.
- The stock of long-term external debt owed to the World Bank increased by 573 MD to 14,140 MD at the end of 2024, accounting for nearly 19% of the total stock (compared to around 16.6% in 2023).
- The African Development Bank (BAD) maintained its position as the second largest lender, with a share of 10.6% of the total stock of external debt, or 8,090 MD (compared to 8,398 MD in 2023).
- The stock of external debt owed to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) fell to 5,339 MD (compared to 7,198 MD at the end of 2023).
Origin of External Debt
The distribution of the stock of long-term external debt in the context of bilateral cooperation at the end of 2024 relatively maintained the same shares as in previous years, thus highlighting the primacy of commitments owed to official bilateral creditors, or 91.8% of the total stock owed in the context of bilateral cooperation. Private bilateral creditors accounted for only 8.2% of this stock.
External Debt by Currency
The structure of the stock of long-term external debt by currency shows the dominance of the euro, with a share of 56.5%, followed by the US dollar (24.4%), the Japanese yen (5.9%), and the Kuwaiti dinar (4.5%).
