Country Report Tunisia April 2011

Outlook for 2011-15: Inflation

We estimate that annual average inflation rose in 2010 owing to higher oil and non-oil commodity prices and a fall in agricultural output, which increased the cost of wheat imports. We have revised up our forecast for oil prices in 2011, to an average of US$101/barrel (although prices may rise even further on fears of contagion of unrest to oil-exporting countries). We have raised our forecast for inflation in 2011, to an average of 5.3%, to reflect these higher oil and commodity prices. A relatively tight monetary policy will ensure that inflation remains manageable during the forecast period, at an average of 4.2%. Average inflation fell to 3.2% year on year in February. The explanation for this surprisingly low figure is that upward pressure on prices from supply-chain bottlenecks (arising from work stoppages) and from higher global commodity prices has been offset by reduced domestic demand.

© 2011 The Economist lntelligence Unit Ltd. All rights reserved
Whilst every effort has been taken to verify the accuracy of this information, The Economist lntelligence Unit Ltd. cannot accept any responsibility or liability for reliance by any person on this information
IMPRINT