Algeria’s Foreign Exchange Reserves Set At 108 Billion Dollars

The Governor of the Bank of Algeria, Mohamed Loukal, stated on Thursday, that the foreign exchange reserves of Algeria are currently estimated at 108 billion dollars.

In a press statement on the sidelines of the African Economic Forum, which will take place between June 29 and July 1 in Algiers, Mr. Loukal said that the exchange reserves amounted to 114.1 billion dollars at the end of December 2016 compared to 121.9 billion dollars at the end of September 2016.

After a steady rise, Algerian exchange reserves have begun to decline since 2014, affected by lower oil prices on the one hand and higher imports on the other.

At the end of March 2014, foreign currency reserves were estimated at $ 195 billion before falling to $ 193.27 billion at the end of June 2014 and $ 185.27 billion at the end of September of the same year.

 The exchange reserves have witnessed in recent years, especially since 2006, a large increase, sometimes amounting to 20 billion dollars annually.

Exchange Reserves were estimated at $ 77.8 billion at the end of 2006, $ 110.2 billion at the end of 2007 and $ 143.1 billion in 2008, rising to $ 147.2 billion in 2009, $ 162.2 billion in 2010, then $ 182.2 billion at the end of 2011 and $ 190.6 billion at the end of 2012 and 194 billion dollars by the end of 2013.

But rising imports and a collapse in oil prices have strongly contributed to the erosion of the hard currency that feeds the country’s exchange reserves.

The Governor of the Bank of Algeria, declared in April last month before the National People’s Assembly – during the presentation of the annual report on the economic and financial situation of the country – that the management of exchange reserves remains “safe”.

In mid-June, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika urged the Government to “avert resorting to external borrowing and to continue to contain the level of imports of goods and services in order to preserve the national exchange reserves”, stressing the need to “maintain the economic sovereignty” of the country.