Inflation in Tunisia rises to 8.6% in August

The annual inflation rate in Tunisia rose to 8.6 per cent last August from 8.2 per cent in July, as a result of the impact of rising prices of all global commodities, especially energy, according to the state-run National Institute of Statistics.

The statistics Agency attributed the inflation to the rise in the prices of food and beverages by 11.9 per cent in August, the price of furniture and household services by 11.3 per cent and education by 10 per cent.

Tunisia is witnessing a severe economic crisis that has been exacerbated by the repercussions of the outbreak of the Covid pandemic, as well as the high cost of imports of energy and other basic materials as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

In the early nineties of the last century, Tunisia witnessed record levels of inflation rate, exceeding nine per cent, while in the eighties the inflation reached above 16 per cent.

Last March, the international credit rating agency, Fitch, downgraded Tunisia’s sovereign rating from B- to CCC.

READ: In Tunisia, trade deficit increases by 57.1% so far this year