Tunindex decline: Ridha Chkoundali warns of risk to banking sector
University economics professor Ridha Chkoundali believes that the turbulence observed on the Tunis Stock Exchange is not merely a stock market event but could signal deeper difficulties for the banking sector and, by extension, the Tunisian economy. Following a sharp drop in the Tunindex, which led the Tunis Stock Exchange to trigger a circuit breaker and suspend trading for an hour, the economist published an analysis warning of the economic consequences of a new measure imposed on banks. The Tunindex fell by over 3% during Tuesday's session, activating the procedure outlined in Article 3.7 of the Exchange Regulations. Lotfi Khezami, Director of Information and Communication at the Tunis Stock Exchange, explained that the temporary suspension aims to alert investors to significant market fluctuations, allowing them to assess the situation and protect the smooth operation of trading. He stated that this is a precautionary measure provided for by Tunisian regulations and applied in stock exchanges worldwide, with transactions set to resume normally on Wednesday. Chkoundali argues that the stock market's recent strong performance masked persistent difficulties in the real economy. He suggests that the increase in trading volumes and banking values did not reflect a recovery in industry, agriculture, or services, but rather the profits banks made from financing the state through Treasury bills. This situation, he claims, gradually deprived the private sector of available financi