Algeria cut 20,000 billion DZ from social support budget 2017

Although the government is still attached to the social support policy and continues social transfers policy, it had to reduce money allocated for the next year by 11.4 percent.

The government is expected to set the 2017 budget at 1,630 billion DZ compared to 1,841 billion DZ allocated last year. Housing and health sector will benefit from a lower sum.

A meeting held by the cabinet last week came up with the decision that social support policy is still a red line. Yet, discussed figures show that expenses rationalization and optimization are terms used by Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal to express the government’s current policy instead of austerity. Those measures touched the housing sector as its budget for 2017 will be set at 305 billion DZ compared to 500 billion DZ allocated in 2016.

The government’s choice was imposed by oil price fall as it is has been the main source for the Public Treasury since 2014.