It produces only one piece out of 5..Tunisia is the first in the world in the per capita consumption of bread

The expert in grain markets and food security Salim Bousbah stated that Tunisia is ranked first in the world in the consumption of bread, and it produces only one piece of it out of five with its local wheat.

In a statement to the Tunis Africa News Agency, on the sidelines of a conference organized by the Tunisian-European Cooperation Forum regarding the repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic and the war between Russia and Ukraine on Tunisian-European relations, in the capital, Tunis, Bousbah said that Tunisia imports more than 80% of its soft wheat needs, and sometimes more than 50% of its needs of durum wheat.

The expert added: "Since 2005, Tunisia has been consuming more soft wheat than hard wheat, while it is able to achieve self-sufficiency in hard wheat and is not subject to the rise in soft wheat prices at the international level, especially in light of the war in and Ukraine."

For his part, former Minister of Foreign Affairs Khamis Jhinaoui said that Tunisia imported 3.7 million tons of wheat during the 2021-2022 season, half of which came from Ukraine and Russia, as 47% of Tunisia's wheat needs are imported from Ukraine and 4% from Russia, stressing The trade balance deficit with these two countries.

Jhinaoui suggested that the Ukrainian crisis would have negative repercussions on the energy balance, explaining that each additional dollar in the price of a barrel of oil is equivalent to 140 million Tunisian dinars, which the state must find to finance the compensation fund, for the benefit of the consumer, whose purchasing power has deteriorated.

He stressed that the country is facing a severe crisis with regard to public finance, noting that Tunisia is currently continuing its talks with the International Monetary Fund to conclude a new agreement that would allow it to obtain loans worth 12.6 billion dinars.

In another context, the former Tunisian diplomat considered that the Russian and Ukrainian markets are also of great importance in reviving tourism in Tunisia.

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