Tunisia’s cash holdings have climbed to a record 30.04 billion dinars ($10.5 billion), up about 16% from a year earlier, as households and businesses increasingly rely on physical currency following tighter rules governing bank cheques, according to Business Insider Africa and La Presse de Tunisie. The surge in banknotes and coins outside the banking system is putting additional pressure on banks’ liquidity and potentially reducing funds available for lending.
The shift follows reforms introduced in 2025 that tightened regulations and penalties surrounding bounced or invalid cheques, prompting some businesses and individuals to withdraw more cash for transactions. The change has coincided with a dramatic decline in cheque usage, with the Central Bank of Tunisia reporting a 67.5% drop in cheque transactions in 2025, while bank transfers and bills of exchange gained ground.
At the same time, Tunisia’s digital payment ecosystem is expanding, although not quickly enough to offset the preference for cash. Mobile payment transactions jumped 80.5% in 2025 to 8.4 million, while mobile wallet numbers rose to 469,000. Electronic payments are nevertheless less established outside the country’s major urban centres.
For Tunisia’s financial sector, the cash surge presents a wider economic challenge. Money held outside bank accounts is less available for credit creation, potentially tightening financing conditions for households and businesses. The trend underscores the need for faster adoption of secure digital payments while policymakers balance efforts to curb financial risks with the everyday payment needs of consumers and small businesses.
