Mubasher: Fitch Ratings revised on Friday the outlook on Tunisia's long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDR) to Negative from Stable and affirmed the IDRs at 'BB-' and 'BB', respectively.
The issue ratings on Tunisia's senior unsecured foreign currency bonds have also been affirmed at 'BB-'. Fitch has affirmed the Short-term foreign currency IDR at 'B' and the Country Ceiling at 'BB'.
The collapse of tourism in the context of heightened security risks contributed to a slowdown in GDP growth to just 0.8% in 2015, its lowest level since the 2011 revolution, from 2.3% in 2014, said Fitch.
The agency has also revised down its growth forecasts to 1.2% for 2016 from 2% in the previous review, and to 2% for 2017 from over 3% previously. Unemployment, already high at over 15% of the labour force relative to a peer median of 9%, is unlikely to come down significantly, raising the risk of further social instability.
