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Algeria Downturn Continues

Algeria Downturn Continues
Algeria Downturn Continues

Two and a half years after the downturn in global oil prices, from $108 to $30 per barrel, the Algerian economy is still struggling to recover from the impact, muftah.org reported. Immediately following the drop, at the end of 2014, Algeria’s energy earnings declined by 40%. As a  result, the country incurred a national trade deficit of $13 billion, while it had previously enjoyed a $25 billion surplus. At the same time, youth unemployment reached a high of almost 30%. To mitigate the potential for an economic crisis, the government began introducing austerity measures in 2015. These measures included cutting government spending by 9% overall for 2016, which involved a proposed 15% reduction in import spending, a freezing of infrastructure projects, and a reduction in energy subsidies. For 2017, the Algerian Parliament approved increasing spending cuts from 9% to 14%, at the behest of the IMF.

 

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