Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune revealed that Algeria's foreign exchange reserves reached $42 billion, down from $60 billion in the first quarter of 2020.
Tebboune pointed out that "the new economic trend is to allow the import of only what the national economy needs, considering that the country's exchange reserves and by calculating the oil revenues for the past year, which amounted to 24 billion dollars, have decreased from 60 billion dollars to 42 billion dollars, and it is changing weekly, explaining that Algeria is not in financial favor, but we are able to fulfill our obligations.
The fall in global oil prices has severely affected Algeria, a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), where oil and gas exports account for 60 percent of the state budget and 94 percent of total export revenues.
Reserves reached $72.6 billion in April 2019, down from 79.88 billion in December 2018 and 97.33 billion at the end of 2017.
Algeria uses its foreign exchange reserves to buy imports of goods and services, which amount to $45 billion annually. The government is trying to cut spending on imports in order to alleviate the financial pressures caused by the decline in oil and gas revenues.
Source (Arabic CNBC Website, Edited)
