The central bank's board, meeting on 29 July, left the policy rate unchanged at 7.00 percent, judging that inflation risks remain skewed to the upside: headline inflation was 5.3 percent in June, but core inflation excluding fresh food and administered prices has been stuck at 5.0 percent for three months running. The communiqué put the current-account deficit at 4,241 million dinars, or 2.3 percent of GDP, in the first half of 2026 against 2,844 million (1.6 percent) a year earlier, entirely a function of a record 8,502-million-dinar energy bill; excluding energy the current account ran a 2,538-million-dinar surplus. After the repayment of a 700-million-euro Eurobond in July, net foreign assets stood at 23.4 billion dinars, the equivalent of 92 days of imports, on 28 July.
The Tunindex tripped the circuit breaker again at the open on 29 July, falling more than 3 percent and approaching 4 percent before reversing to close up 1.31 percent at 19,999.20 points, led by the same bank stocks that had driven the two-day sell-off. The same day the Conseil du marché financier convened the finance ministry, the central bank, the listed banks, the exchange and the brokers' association, defended the automatic suspension as standard prudential practice used on major exchanges, and urged investors to act on economic data rather than rumour. Its statement addressed the mechanism and the market's resilience rather than the decree requiring banks to devote 8 percent of profits to interest-free honour loans, which the economist Ridha Chkoundali had identified the previous day as the trigger.
Speaking to parliament on 28 July during the debate on the EBRD guarantee, Economy and Planning Minister Samir Abdelhafidh said a merger between the Compagnie des phosphates de Gafsa and the Groupe chimique tunisien is among the options under study, after decree 79 of 1 June 2026 placed both state companies under a single chief executive, Omar Bouzouada. He reminded deputies that phosphates once accounted for about 4 percent of GDP and 9 to 12 percent of exports, and are now down to 0.5 percent of GDP and roughly 3 percent of exports. The merger remark has been reported by a single newsroom, and no legal merger has been announced.
Source:
Webdo · Wednesday, 29 July 2026
