Tunisia sees alarming drop in industrial production

TUNIS, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Industrial production fell by 2.7 percent in the first two months of 2018, the National Institute of Statistics (INS) of Tunisia said Wednesday.

The drop came amid a 10.5-percent decline in the production capacity of phosphates and derivatives, it added.

The apparent reason for the decline is the 91.8-percent plummet in the productivity of the oil refining sector following its suspension since last November.

However, the agri-food industry recorded an estimated 21.1-percent growth in the same period following the increase in olive oil production, the INS said. Enditem