Algerian Government’s emergency response to the collapse of oil prices

Algerian Prime Minister, Abdelmalek Sellal, summoned on Sunday several ministers in charge of the economy file including finance Minister, Mohamed Djellab, for a joint ministerial council to examine how best to cushion the adverse impact that the sliding oil prices on the world market could have on the national economy.

Government sources told Echorouk that the current topical concern touched off by the plummeting oil prices on the International market, not witnessed for the past 5 years, had begun to grip the executive branch because of the feared negative impact on the Algerian economy with as a result dwindling exchange reserves in the country’s state budget.

The same sources added that the participants in this emergency inter-ministerial council heard an exhaustive report by finance Minister, Mohamed Djellab, about the dreaded difficulties to be faced by the national economy in case this oil price drop continued to hold sway on the world market.

He however indicated that despite some constraints forecast notably marked by a slight impact on the country’s fiscal balances, Algeria has the financial capacity to withstand the effects of the oil price decline.

The Minister recognized the impact that the fall of oil prices can have on the national economy, saying, however, that this decline was among the “issues addressed by the Algerian government which studied all the possibilities and implemented all scenarios” resulting from this drop.

Regarding the impact of the plummeting oil prices on the projects planned by the government, Djellab reaffirmed the Government’s determination to diversify the sources of funding for development projects notably through the recourse to the financial market instead of relying solely on the state budget.

A series of projects have been planned and will be funded by the financial market which will help to “ease the pressure” on the State budget and will confer “large capacity” to project financing.

Djellab said the major projects included in the government program notably those relating to agriculture, education, health and housing and everything that relates to investment “will not be affected by the decline in oil prices.”