Algeria Records a Historic Deficit in its 2022 Budget

  • Algiers, People's Democratic Republic of Algeria
  • 26 October 2021
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Algeria's draft general budget bill for next year showed that the deficit will exceed four trillion dinars ($30 billion) as a result of higher expenditures than revenue growth, as the total revenues for the next fiscal year are expected to reach 43 billion dollars, while total expenses will reach nearly 74 billion dollars.

In the new budget, the government allocated more than $14.6 billion for the subsidy item, while providing incentives and exemptions for young investors and entrepreneurs to support their start-up projects with the aim of reducing high levels of unemployment.

The general budget deficit for the next year is considered the largest in the history of Algeria, after it was in the range of $ 22 billion in the current year’s budget as a result of the Corona pandemic and the oil crisis that accompanied it. Algeria expects about $37 billion in total export revenues in foreign exchange, of which $33 billion is revenue from hydrocarbons (oil and gas).

As for the expectations of economic growth next year, it will be around 3.3 percent, and the growth rate of the hydrocarbon sector will reach 4 percent, agriculture 4.5 percent, and industry 4.1 percent. The bill also expects hydrocarbon exports at a level of $27.9 billion, while imports will amount to $31.5 billion, which means a decrease of 5.4 percent compared to its level in 2021.

Source (London-based Al-Arab Newspaper, Edited)