Foreign exchange reserves declined by 2,249.4 million dinars (MD), or 8.2%, at the end of the 2025 financial year, standing at 25,134.4 MD, according to the report “Financial Statements for 2025 and Auditors’ Report”published by the Central Bank of Tunisia (BCT).
This trend is mainly explained by the deficit in net Treasury flows, which remained at a high level, similar to the previous year, in a context marked by continued constraints on access to external financing.
In this context, disbursements made for the benefit of the government reached 1,920 MD, mainly from loans granted by the European Investment Bank (330 MD), the World Bank (310 MD), and the African Development Bank (260 MD).
Repayments made in 2025 included, in particular, the settlement at the end of January of the principal and interest on the 2015 Eurobond issuance, for a total amount of USD 1,028.8 million, as well as repayments due on IMF loans, representing the equivalent of 376 million SDRs, or 1,434.1 MD, under the Extended Fund Facility and the Rapid Financing Instrument.
However, the continued strong performance of foreign exchange-generating sectors helped mitigate the impact of this deficit on reserve levels.
“The improvement in tourism revenues and remittances from Tunisians living abroad enabled the BCT to carry out net purchases of foreign banknotes amounting to around 4,700 MD during 2025, contributing to strengthening reserve levels,” the central bank report noted.
In addition to the repayment of the 2015 Eurobond and IMF loans, external public debt servicing in 2025 mainly involved the repayment of principal and interest on several other issuances and loans.
These included USD 94 million (276.8 MD) related to Afreximbank loans repaid on June 30, 2025; USD 99.7 million (292.1 MD) corresponding to other Afreximbank loans repaid on September 30, 2025; and USD 51.3 million (164.4 MD) for a principal and interest installment on a USD 500 million Saudi loan contracted in 2019, repaid on January 23, 2025.
Additionally, in March 2025, the BCT repaid USD 100 million relating to a deposit received in 2015 from the Bank of Algeria.
