Algeria unemployment at 25 percent: US report

The Algerian unemployment rate hovers unofficially above 25 percent, and mostly affects males under 30. This contributes to the crime rate, particularly kidnapping, theft, extortion, drug trafficking, and arms and cigarette smuggling, according to a report released by the US. State Department.

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• The law aims to strengthen the powers of the Cellule du Traitement du Renseignement Financier (CTRF), an independent financial intelligence unit (FIU) within the Ministry of Finance (MOF) created in 2002. This law seeks to bring Algerian law into conformity with international standards and conventions. It offers guidance for the prevention and detection of money laundering and terrorist financing, institutional and judicial cooperation, and penal provisions. The CTRF’s leadership is composed of officials from the Ministries of Finance, Justice, Customs, Interior and the Central Bank.
• “There are reports that Algerian customs and law enforcement authorities are increasingly concerned with cases of customs fraud and trade-based money laundering, “said the report.
• “Other risk areas for financial crimes include unregulated alternative remittance and currency exchange systems; tax evasion; misuse of real estate transactions as a means of money laundering; commercial invoice fraud, and a cash-based economy,» it added.
•  According to the same report, most money laundering is believed to occur primarily outside the formal financial system, given the large percentage of financial transactions occurring in the informal gray and black economies.
• It says Algerian authorities are taking steps to coordinate information sharing between concerned agencies, giving the example of a specialized cadre of investigators, prosecutors and judges who are being trained in the investigation and prosecution of financial crimes established by the Ministry of Justice established cadre in 2008.
• “The Government of Algeria has taken significant steps to enhance its statutory regime against anti-money laundering and terrorist financing. It needs to move forward now to implement those laws and eliminate bureaucratic barriers among various government agencies.”
•  The the Cellule du Traitement du Renseignement Financier (CTRF) should be the focal point for anti-money laundering/counterterrorist finance (AML/CTF) suspicious transaction report analysis, which would require the CTRF to develop an in-house analytical capability, says the US report.
• “The CTRF should conduct outreach to the formal and informal financial sectors, adhere to international standards, and take steps to prepare for membership in the Egmont Group.”
• It also says new emphasis should be made to identify value transfer mechanisms not covered in Algeria’s AML/CTF legal and regulatory framework, and to limit the frequency and the size of cash transactions given the scope of Algeria’s informal economy.
• According to the report, Algerian law enforcement and customs authorities should enhance their ability to investigate trade-based money laundering, value transfer, and bulk cash smuggling used for financing terrorism and other illicit financial activities.