Tunisia's foreign currency reserves rise after it sold bond

TUNIS- Tunisia’s foreign reserves have risen after it sold a 700 million euro bond last week, and are now enough to pay for 87 days of imports, official data showed on Tuesday, up from a previous level of 73 days.

Central bank figures showed that Tunisia’s foreign exchange reserves now stand at 15.596 billion dinars ($5.42 billion).

The North African country’s economy has been in crisis since the toppling of autocrat Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in 2011, with unemployment and inflation shooting up. It has struggled with tough economic reforms to reduce public spending.

Last week, Tunisia sold a seven-year euro-denominated bond worth 700 million euros at an interest rate of 6.37 percent. ($1 = 2.8756 Tunisian dinars)

(Reporting by Tarek Amara Editing by Peter Graff) ((tarek.amara@thomsonreuters.com;))