Algeria has adopted a record budget to face economic problems during 2023 in light of the stressful conditions due to what is happening in the global markets, in order to get out with the least damage from the crises despite the increase in energy revenues this year. The budget is estimated at about $100 billion, an increase of $24.5 billion over the 2022 budget.
The government expects total revenues in a budget prepared on the basis of a reference oil price of $60 per barrel and a market price of $70, amounting to about 7.9 trillion dinars ($56 billion), but the fiscal deficit will continue to widen. The deficit will reach 20.6 percent of the gross domestic product, the largest in the country's history, i.e. more than 43 billion dollars, up from 15.9 percent during the current year, which is equivalent to 31 billion dollars.
In the new budget, the government did not impose any new taxes, nor did it resort to any fiscal review or direct and indirect fees on the consumption of basic commodities. Since the collapse of oil prices in 2014, Algeria has witnessed an accumulated fiscal deficit that appeared clearly with the evaporation of its cash reserves of hard currency with the Central Bank, which at that time were about two hundred billion dollars. The government expects inflation to decline next year to 5.4 percent, down from the current 9.4 percent, while the GDP growth rate will reach 4.1 percent.
Source (Al-Arab Newspaper of London, Edited)
