TUNIS (Reuters) – Tunisia’s budget deficit in 2020 will be about 7% of GDP compared with 3% expected previously, finance minister Nizar Yaich said on Monday.
In a joint press conference, investment minister Slim Azzabi said the Tunisia’s economy will shrink by 6.5% this year because of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The government ended all restrictions on movement and businesses and opened its sea, land and air borders last month.
However, the pandemic is hammering the tourism sector, which contributes nearly 10% of gross domestic product and is a key source of foreign currency.
Tourism revenue in the first six months of this year fell by 50% from the same period of 2019 as western tourists deserted Tunisia’s hotels and resorts.
Tunisia will need an additional financing of 5.4 billion dinars, the finance minister said.
(Reporting by Tarek Amara; editing by Jason Neely and Toby Chopra)
