Algeria: The projected import of used cars has inflated the price of the Euro

The exchange rate of the “euro” in the informal currency market in Port Said Square in the capital Algiers, on Wednesday exceeded the ceiling of 20,000 dinars per hundred European units, while economists expect the euro to continue to rise by the end of December, due to the return of imports of used cars less than three years, at the beginning of 2020.

Informal “square” traders attributed this rise to the increased demand for the ” hard currency” by Algerians heading to France to take advantage of promotions and sale discounts as well as the approach of the Umrah coinciding with the noble Prophet’s birthday (Mawlid Ennabawi Echarif) at a time when they expect this hike to go on until the New Year 2020.

According to dealers in the “square”, the rise in foreign currency prices in the informal market, have reached the price of 100 euros to the limits of 20 thousand and 500 dinars, while the value of its counterpart of the US currency the “dollar” reached ceiling of 18 thousand dinars.

On the subject, the economic expert Abdelmalek Serri told “Echorouk” that the government’s decision to allow the return to the import of used cars of less than 3 years, will negatively affect the value of the Algerian dinar, which will lose much of its value in the next few weeks, especially since the government stipulated the Acquisition of used cars from abroad which passes hard currency money through official channels, and this will spawn scarcity in the informal market, as banks do not allow citizens to acquire sufficient amounts of money ” in hard currency”, which is, he said, a fatal blow to the Algerian dinar, which lost over 40 percent of its value.

Our interlocutor added that the repercussions of the decline of the dinar against the rise of the euro will weaken the Algerian economy, which has begun to show strong signs of decline, as well as prompting the collapse of the purchasing power of citizens.