Algeria has continued to record a ballooning trade deficit due to a drop in oil prices which has heralded economic problems for the North African country, ABC reported. The drop in oil prices on the international market over the last two years continues to worsen Algeria’s trade deficit. The country relies heavily on petroleum, which makes up 95% of Algeria’s export. Imports have also seen a decline due to the austerity measures taken by the Algerian government. Algeria’s export earnings stood a $22.7 billion at the end of October. This is a 23.44% drop compared to last year. Algeria, which runs a structural trade deficit, saw another decline of 11.3% in its imports. At the end of October, Algeria imported $38.5 billion worth of commodities compared to $43.5 billion in October of 2015. The austerity policy, analysts say, is meant to control the trade deficit by freezing investment in certain sectors and setting restrictive measures on imports like quotas on vehicles, cement and building materials.
