Additional Tunisian budget expenditures have increased by 4 billion dinars (about $1.31 billion) due to the economic consequences of the situation in Ukraine. This, according to the Tunis Afrique Presse (TAP) news agency on Thursday, was stated by Minister of Industry, Energy and Mines Naila Nouira al-Qunji.
According to her, rising oil prices amid the Russia-Ukraine crisis are putting a significant strain on Tunisia's budget. "The increase in the average price of a barrel of Brent crude oil to $101 by April 4, 2022, means the need for subsidies for 2022 will increase to 8.16 billion dinars (about $2.67 billion)," al-Qunji. said. At the same time, the expenditure part of the budget for the current fiscal year was based on the price per barrel of oil at $75 at an exchange rate of 2.9 dinars per dollar. In 2022, Tunisia planned to spend 5.14 billion dinars (around $1.67 billion) on imports of oil and oil products, but rising oil prices and a 0.17-dinar drop in the value of the local currency against the dollar have almost doubled this expenditure item.
Moreover, an additional burden on the Tunisian budget is created by growing prices for raw materials for production of fertilizers, which the country imports together with oil products from Russia, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. In these circumstances, Tunisia plans to replace Russia with alternative suppliers from the Persian Gulf, Indonesia and Algeria, Al-Qunji said.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
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Based on materials from TASS