Tunisians Hold More Cash Than the Central Bank’s Net Assets
TUNISIA · MONEY
Key Facts
—The threshold: Central Bank of Tunisia data put banknotes and coin in circulation at 30.040 billion dinars on 21 August 2026, up from 29.996 billion the previous business day.
—The year: That is 4.138 billion dinars more than the 25.902 billion recorded on the same date in 2025, a rise of just under 16%.
—The climb: The stock passed 20 billion dinars during 2023, reached 22.594 billion at the end of 2024 and 26.876 billion at the end of 2025.
—Bigger than the net foreign assets: The central bank’s net foreign assets stood at a provisional 25.155 billion dinars on 24 August, three days after the cash reading, so the note issue is now the larger of the two.
—Import cover: Reserves covered 98 days of imports on 24 August, against 107 days a year earlier.
—The comparison: A former central bank monetary policy chief put the cash stock at close to 16% of GDP, against 3% to 4% in developed economies and 9% in Tunisia in 2010.
Tunisia cash in circulation crossed 30 billion dinars on 21 August 2026. The stock of notes and coin is now larger than the central bank’s net foreign assets. That is the clearest measure yet of money leaving Tunisian banks at exactly the moment the state needs them most.
The number, and the day it broke
The Central Bank of Tunisia publishes the figure in its daily indicators, and the crossing is precisely datable. Banknotes and coin in circulation stood at 29.996 billion dinars on 20 August and 30.040 billion on Friday 21 August.
A year earlier, on 21 August 2025, the same series read 25.902 billion. The increase is 4.138 billion dinars, or 15.98%.
Some Tunisian coverage dates the crossing to Monday 24 August. That is the day the number was published and argued over, not the day it happened.
How fast this has happened
The stock took decades to reach 20 billion dinars, a line it crossed during 2023. It added 1.753 billion in 2024 and a further 4.282 billion in 2025, closing that year at 26.876 billion.
Growth of 8.4% in 2024 became 19% in 2025, according to the central bank annual report. Eight months into 2026 the stock has added another 3.164 billion.
The annual pace is actually cooling, which is worth saying plainly. Year-on-year growth ran above 22% in May. It slowed to 16% by 21 August, partly a base effect from a strong summer in 2025.
Why Tunisia cash in circulation is a solvency question
Cash held under mattresses is money that is not funding anything. Every dinar outside the banking system is a dinar the banks cannot lend, and Tunisian banks are the state’s main creditor.
That is the uncomfortable arithmetic. Tunisia has financed itself domestically since President Kais Saied rejected an IMF programme. The deposit base carrying that burden is now shrinking in relative terms.
The comparison that lands hardest is with the central bank’s net foreign assets. A provisional 25.155 billion dinars on 24 August, against 24.722 billion a year earlier. The cash pile is larger. Tunisia is not a currency board. Nothing requires reserves to back the note issue. Import cover still stands at 98 days.
What the former policymaker said
Mohamed Salah Souilem, formerly director-general of monetary policy at the central bank, discussed the figures on Jawhara FM on Monday 24 August.
He put the cash stock at close to 16% of Tunisian GDP, against 3% to 4% in developed economies. In 2010 the Tunisian ratio was 9%, and the stock has multiplied roughly fivefold in sixteen years.
The arithmetic supports him with one caveat. The ratio is 17.5% of the 2025 nominal GDP of 171.642 billion dinars. Against a projected 2026 figure, it falls to about 16%, so the year you divide by matters.
On reserves he was calmer. Cover bottomed at about 92 days in July, after a 700 million euro external debt repayment, and had recovered to 98 days.
What an investor should take from it
The direct read is on Tunisian bank funding. A deposit base leaking into cash squeezes the same institutions being asked to absorb government paper.
The indirect read is on the informal economy. Souilem pointed to the cheque reform and weak electronic payments. The economist Ridha Chkoundali has separately argued that stricter cheque rules pushed people toward cash. The 5,000-dinar ceiling on cash payments was also scrapped, reinforcing that shift.
Neither explanation is flattering. Both describe a state making cash more attractive at the moment it most needs money inside the banking system.
There is a practical dimension for anyone doing business in Tunisia as well. An economy running this much of its activity through notes and coin makes invoicing, tax collection, and card acceptance harder. These tasks become more difficult than the headline banking statistics suggest.
For anyone holding Tunisian risk, watch the gap, not the headline stock. That gap versus net foreign assets is the key series. That gap is not new. On the same central bank table, cash already exceeded net foreign assets by about 1.2 billion dinars in August 2025. It is widening.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is Tunisia cash in circulation?
Central Bank of Tunisia data put banknotes and coin in circulation at 30.040 billion dinars on 21 August 2026. That is up 4.138 billion, or just under 16%, in a year.
When did it cross 30 billion dinars?
On Friday 21 August 2026. The stock was 29.996 billion the previous business day. Some coverage dates the crossing to 24 August, which is the day the central bank page was updated.
Is the cash stock really bigger than the reserves?
Larger than the net foreign assets, yes. Those stood at a provisional 25.155 billion dinars on 24 August 2026. Notes and coin in circulation were 30.040 billion on 21 August. Tunisia is not a currency board, so there is no threshold either figure has to meet.
What share of GDP is that?
A former central bank monetary policy chief put it near 16%. The ratio is 17.5% against the institute’s 2025 nominal GDP of 171.642 billion dinars. So the base year changes the answer.
How much import cover does Tunisia have?
Reserves covered 98 days of imports on 24 August 2026, against 107 days a year earlier. Cover bottomed at about 92 days in July.
Connected Coverage
For the region’s other live monetary experiment, read our report on Egypt’s move to let customers open bank accounts entirely online. More from our Northern Africa desk.
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