Central Bank of Tunisia Maintains Interest Rate at 7.00%
The Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Tunisia decided, during its meeting on February 11, 2026, to keep the Central Bank's benchmark interest rate unchanged at 7.00%.
Review of Economic and Financial Situation
The Board of Directors of the Central Bank held a meeting on February 11, 2026, during which it reviewed the recent developments in the economic and financial situation, both internationally and nationally, as well as the recent dynamics of inflation.
International Context
At the international level, inflation continued to moderate in January 2026, despite a slow recovery in the prices of major commodities and raw materials. In this context, the central banks of the major economies opted for a wait-and-see approach during their latest monetary policy meetings, given the uncertainties surrounding trade policies and price developments.
National Context
On the national level, inflation declined to 4.8% in January 2026, after stabilizing at 4.9% over the previous three months. This decline was facilitated by the slowdown in inflation of products with administered prices, which fell to 0.6% from 0.8% in December 2025, in a context marked by the maintenance of the freeze on most administered prices in the consumer basket. Additionally, the pace of fresh food prices slowed down in January 2026, to 10.3% from 11.2% the previous month, thanks to an improvement in the supply of several products. However, the underlying inflation rate, excluding fresh food and administered prices, continued to rise gradually, from 4.3% in September 2025 to 4.9% in January 2026. This trend is mainly due to the attenuation of the base effect related to the sharp contraction in domestic olive oil prices observed in 2025.
External Sector
At the level of the external sector, 2025 ended with a current account deficit of -4,350 MDT, or -2.5% of GDP (compared to -2,576 MDT, or -1.6% of GDP, a year earlier). This widening is explained by the deterioration of the trade deficit, partially offset by the improvement in labor income and tourism receipts.
Foreign Exchange Reserves
The gradual consolidation of foreign exchange reserves continued recently, with reserves reaching 25.8 billion dinars (or 109 days of imports) as of February 10, 2026, compared to 23.3 billion dinars (or 102 days of imports) a year earlier.
Decision
The Board considers it necessary to continue supporting the ongoing disinflation process in order to bring inflation back to its long-term average. It decides to maintain the Central Bank's benchmark interest rate unchanged at 7.00%.
