TUNIS, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- Tunisia's GDP growth rate reached 1.9 percent in the first nine months of 2017, the Central Bank of Tunisia (BCT) said Thursday.

In the third quarter of 2017, Tunisia's GDP growth has increased by 0.7 percent, according to a note sent to Xinhua by the BCT.

The balance sheet shows a year-on-year increase of 6.3 percent in the inflation rate in November, compared with 5.8 percent in October.

By the end of the first 11 months of 2017, the country's total imports grew faster than its exports, with 19.2 percent and 17.3 percent respectively.

Tunisia has witnessed a continuous widening of trade deficit, which has now reached its highest level of 14,362 million dinars (5744.8 U.S. dollars) from 11,628 million dinars in 2016, said Zied Mouhli, spokesman of the BCT.

According to Mouhli, the external imbalances have severely affected foreign exchange reserves, which for the first time since 2006, have fallen below 5 billion dollars.