Algiers “Square” Informal Exchange Traders Hoard Around 6 Billion Euros!

The price of the euro continues to collapse at the level of the informal hard currency market in Port Said Square in the capital Algiers after the end of Eid al-Adha religious festival and Hajj or pilgrimage season, where the trading price of the euro yesterday reached 182 dinars and the dollar 163 dinars, for sale and 187 dinars and 167 dinars for purchase for the European and American currencies respectively, at the time when the euro in some eastern provinces was set at 180 dinars and 160 dinars, amid expectations of a further collapse to touch before the end of the year 150 dinars, because of the lack of demand and a significant decline of 60 percent.
Mr. Houari Tigrissi, a member of the Finance and Budget Committee of the National People’s Assembly, told Echorouk that the demand for the euro and the dollar has dropped dramatically after the arrests and investigations opened concerning several leading businessmen involved in corruption cases, who in his opinion were the most important clients of the foreign black exchange market.
These judicial investigations also caused a freeze on economic activity, which fell by an average of 60 percent, coupled with the decline in demand for foreign currency, stressing that the suspension of imports also significantly reduced demand for the “hard currency ” and caused the collapse of prices. Despite the imprisonment of a large number of their suppliers, the informal exchange traders still hoard around 6 billion euros.
Mr. Tigrissi explained that some importers had previously asked for up to 1 million euros of cashiers to buy, which caused a sudden rise in prices, while the freeze on imports today disappeared for lack of black market customers, even those involved in excessive bills inflated in the past, as they used the Algiers Port Said Square market and other black spots to sell the state’s currency to get the money they wanted.
On the other hand, a member of the Finance and Budget Committee of the National People’s Assembly called for the need to expedite the opening of approved exchange offices in Algeria in the near future, stressing that it is the right opportunity for the government to legalize the process of buying and selling hard currency according to a certain profit margin.
He stressed that pumping $ 6 billion into the official market would revive the national economy and restore the Algerian dinar, making it able to compete with other foreign currencies.
The price of the euro and the dollar has witnessed a downward trend since the beginning of the popular protest movement on February 22nd, and this slump continued in light of the stagnation of the national economy and the reluctance of businessmen and traders to acquire these currencies in large quantities in light of the fears that prevail in the Algerian street, as we are witnessing that foreign currency prices are rising even in the summer season and during the pilgrimage period, a period in which the euro and dollar are usually inflamed.