Tunisian State Budget Posts 2 Billion Dinar Surplus in Q1 2025
The Tunisian state budget has recorded a surplus of approximately 2 billion dinars in the first quarter of 2025, a 74% increase compared to the same period in 2024 (1.2 billion dinars), according to the "Provisional Results of the State Budget Execution as of March 2025" report published by the Ministry of Finance.
This evolution is primarily linked to a 3.9% increase in budgetary resources, which reached 12.5 billion dinars. Tax revenues progressed by 7.7%, establishing themselves at 11.2 billion dinars, while non-tax revenues slightly increased by 2%, approaching 1.2 billion dinars.
On the other hand, budgetary expenditures recorded a moderate decrease of 0.6%, totaling 10.3 billion dinars. In detail, salary expenditures increased by 3%, reaching 54.8 billion dinars as of March 2025. Intervention-related expenditures experienced a 16% increase, reaching 2.4 billion dinars.
In contrast, investment and management expenditures significantly decreased: -33.7% for investment (0.5 billion dinars) and -27.7% for management (0.2 billion dinars). Moreover, financing charges, i.e., debt interest, decreased by 10.4%, establishing themselves at 1.6 billion dinars compared to 1.8 billion dinars a year earlier.
The structure of state expenditures as of March 2025 breaks down as follows: salaries represent 53.2% of the total, followed by interventions (23.3%), financing charges (15.9%), investment expenditures (5%), and management expenditures (2.6%).
Treasury resources, on the other hand, recorded a 49.8% increase, reaching 5.5 billion dinars. These funds were primarily mobilized for the repayment of the principal debt.
Finally, public debt service increased by 26% compared to the first quarter of 2024, rising from approximately 7.2 billion dinars to over 9 billion dinars. External debt represents 57% of the total outstanding debt, amounting to around 5.2 billion dinars.
