Algeria: The Price Of Hard Currency Plummets On The Informal Market

The price of the euro in the hard currency market collapsed at the Port Said square in the capital Algiers, or what is known as the “the reference Black Market”, on Monday, to reach 20 thousand and 300 dinars per a hundred unit, after exceeding earlier 21 thousand and 500 dinars, and over the past few days, it reached 22 thousand dinars for a hundred euros.
The price of the dollar, which was set a few days ago, at 19 thousand and 100 dinars per a hundred dollar unit, dropped to 18 thousand and 200 dinars.
Informal traders attributed the collapse of the hard currency to the presence of a large number of wealthy businessmen who have been accustomed to the submission of large orders to the market and who are currently detained in the prison El Harrach, under accusations of corruption, at a time of market stagnation, pending the completion of investigations on the matter initiated by the security authorities.
This period of the year coincides with the summer holidays and the Hajj or pilgrimage season, with the first batch of Algerian pilgrims due to fly to the Holy Places of Islam on 20 July.
The Algerians will however witness anew a sharp rise in the price of foreign currency during this period of the year at the informal market. Presently, there’s a sharp decline in the value of the euro and the dollar, although each pilgrim is allowed to transfer $ 1000 worth of hard currency from Algeria.
Informal market traders refuse nonetheless to provide explanatory readings and forecasts about the evolution of the exchange market and the prices that the market will witness during the next stage.
This will vary according to the Algerian people’s widespread protest movement launched since 22 February 2019. The ongoing corruption cases now being dealt with by justice will necessarily lead to a decline in demand. Most of the demands in the informal hard currency market are spawned by importers, businessmen and big traders.
They also believe that the freezing of economic activity during the recent period and the matter of the activity of contractors and even bank loans and imports from abroad, which are subject to great scrutiny and control, contributed to the drop in demand for hard currency from the informal markets in several provinces of the country.
These indicators come at a time when demand is also falling on the hard currency on the part of Algerians heading for holidays abroad, in light of the decline in the standard of living and the reduction in the number of Algerian vacationers outside the national territory.