Tunisia: Inflation Rate Falls Below 6 Percent

Tunisia: Inflation Rate Falls Below 6 Percent

Published July 8th, 2020 - 07:30 GMT











Highlights





Tunisian economists Jannat bin Abdullah and Ezzedine Saidane said that the slowdown of inflation is linked to the drop in local demand for various products because of the weakening of the Tunisians' purchasing power.







Tunisia's annual inflation rate in June slowed to less than 6 percent from 6.3 percent in May, official data showed on Monday.

The slowdown is due to a drop in prices of food (4.3 compared to 4.7 percent in May), transport products and services (1.6 compared to 3.3 percent), clothing and footwear prices (6.7 compared to 7.6 percent), said the National Statistics Institute (INS).

Several economists saw this as a circumstantial decline linked to the abundance of vegetables, crops and most food items during this period. They predicted that the situation will only be temporary.

Tunisian economists Jannat bin Abdullah and Ezzedine Saidane said that the slowdown of inflation is linked to the drop in local demand for various products because of the weakening of the Tunisians' purchasing power.

Separately, the government launched an economic rescue plan for 2021. It includes a program to restructure and rescue five strategic public institutions including Tunisian Chemical Group,