20 thousand building enterprises in the throes of bankruptcy
The price of a bag of cement has skyrocketed over the past few months, notably in the eastern provinces of Algeria, on account of a glaring dearth of this vital construction material on the national market.
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A frenzied speculation on the price of cement is in full swing in several parts of the country. The bag of cement is now sold at the staggering price of 700 dinars while the official price does not exceed 270 dinars.
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The cement price has drastically increased on the volatile market after the closure for renovation works of the Hadjar Soud factory, located in the east of the country.
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This factory used to produce 400.000 tons of cement annually and is now at a standstill for troubleshooting reasons.
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It should be noted that 80% of the 5 year-presidential program (2004 – 2009) related to the building sector is now held in abeyance as the private enterprises in charge of construction are facing a scheduled bankruptcy on account of the couldn’t care less attitude of the administration and the unbridled speculation on the prices of construction materials, including cement.
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According to senior executives of the National Union of Algerian building contractors, about 20 thousand construction enterprises out of the 23 thousand registered at the national level, are threatened with bankruptcy and could cease their activities if salvaging measures are not taken by the relevant authorities without further prevarication.
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These ailing enterprises are facing tremendous financial woes and are now unable to reimburse their enormous debts estimated at around 200 billion dinars.
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