This article studies Tunisia’s economic performance in the world stage during the last 50 years. I describe various historical weaknesses and provide policy recommendations in order to alleviate hurdles, break the cycle of chronic mediocrity, and insure the brighter future I believe we are capable of achieving as a nation. I show that Tunisia’s share of world GDP has not changed in the last 50 years, leading to what I refer to as “the Lost Five Decades.”The Tunisian dinar (TND) has been continuously devaluating during this period reducing the purchasing power of every Tunisian.
I explain how to achieve the critical goal of a stable and strong currency through policies that attract foreign direct investments and insure trade surpluses. Such outcomes would bring in much-needed reserves that help further manage and support the TND. Along the way, I rely on the success stories of Singapore, South Korea, and Indonesia’s economies as reference points to compare Tunisia’s performance and as guidance for hopefully a much brighter future.
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Note prepared by Wady Haddaji, M.Sc., PhD., TUNESS Research Team