Corruption and tax evasion cost Algeria 13.6 billion dollars between 2000 and 2008, NGO report says

Corruption is an age-old problem in Algeria, but instances of it are on the rise. Between 2007 and 2009, Algeria's transparency index ranking – which measures the perceived level of public-sector corruption – moved from 92nd to 111th position out of more than 180 countries. Cases of corruption and tax evasion are countless and almost every day brings up a new one, thanks, many say, to a transitional economy that has been weakened by decades of declining legitimacy and erratic outbursts of civil discontent, according to an assessment report issued this week by the Washington-based NGO “Global Financial Integrity”.

• This, the report says, has favoured the rise of a shadow economy (the black market) and clandestine activities such as smuggling. To make matters worse, the country is still carrying the political corruption problems that were inherited from the state-directed economy era, meaning that it stands on a shaky foundation.
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• According to Global Financial Integrity, Algeria is ranked third worst in Africa in terms of illicit financial outflow. Only Nigeria and Egypt are worse. “As long as these countries are losing massive amounts of money to illicit financial outflows, economic development and prosperity will remain elusive,” the GFI report said.
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• The recent 2010 Corruption Perceptions Index found that in the last 12 months Algeria is on par with Argentina, Kazakhstan and Senegal in terms of corruption, with an index score of 2.9, where10 is very clean and 0 is highly corrupt.
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• According to the GFI report, from 1970 to 2008, the North African countries of Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia collectively lost more capital per capita than any other group of African countries.
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• The cumulative loss of illicit capital from North Africa over this 39-year period amounted to a staggering $1,767 per person.
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• Over the period 2000-2008, three of the five North African countries, Egypt, Algeria and Morocco, cumulatively lost $57.2 billion, US$13.6 billion, and $13.3 billion respectively, ranking among the top six exporters of illicit capital from the continent, while Tunisia-which lost US$9.3 billion-ranked tenth.
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• The Algerian government argues that fighting corruption is a priority; that within four months a national body to stamp it out would be in action. This “body” would work closely with the recently agreed (25 August 2010) cabinet investigating and detecting corruption-related offences. The Algerian government has asked its citizens to be patient. Even Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia has changed tack. The fight against corruption requires a “permanent struggle”, he said recently.
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