According to the National Statistics Institute (INS), the decrease is due to a decline in food prices to 3.9 percent in August compared with 4.3 percent in June.
Some economists expected the rate to reach 10 percent due to the slowdown in the traditional economic engines, especially investments and exports.
The Central Bank of Tunisia (BCT) has sought to raise the administrative interest rate in the financial market to pressure the inflation rate and raise it in more than one occasion to reach the range of 7.75 percent.
It finally decided to cut its key interest rate by 100 basis points to 6.75 percent, as it responded to the negative impact of the COVID-19 on the global growth outlook.
Tunisian authorities raised the interest rate nine times during the period between 2013 and 2019, prompting criticism in the country’s financial market.
However, Central Bank Governor Marwan Abbasi said it is a preemptive process to control the increasing rise in the inflation rate.
The BCT carried out a study in cooperation with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the Tunisian economy.
The Bank confirmed that by the end of the year, the economic recession will lead to a 4.4 percent decline in GDP, a 4.9 percent decrease in total investment operations, an eight percent drop for household consumption and exports, and a 9.6 percent decrease in imports.
The study noted that these are negative indicators that will have implications on social and economic stability.
The unemployment rate is predicted to increase from 15 to 21.6 percent, an increase of no less than 274.5000 unemployed citizens.
The decline in economic activity as well as state and individual revenues will lead to a decline in the annual income levels of about 475,000 Tunisians.
