The budget deficit stood at TND 1 billion at the end of August 2023, compared to TND 2 billion in the same period of 2022, according to data published by the Ministry of Finance. This improvement is explained by the increase in government revenues by 8.7% to TND 27.1 billion, due to the rise in tax revenues by 9% to almost TND 24.5 billion and non-tax revenues by 59.7% to TND 1.9 billion. On the other hand, budget expenditure grew at a slower rate of 4% to around TND 28.2 billion in the first eight months of 2023, due to an increase in financing costs (debt interest) by 17.7% to TND 3.5 billion, investment expenditure by 16.4% to TND 2.6 billion, and remuneration expenditure by 2.7% to TND 14.4 billion. The wage bill represents 50% of Tunisia's total budget expenditure as of August 31, 2023. Public debt reached TND 119.2 billion in the first eight months of 2023, split between external debt at 57.7% (TND 68.7 billion) and domestic debt at 42.3% (TND 50.4 billion). 55.6% of the external debt is denominated in euros, 21.7% in dollars and 6.1% in Japanese yen.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse