Euro and Dollar “Bombshell” The Algerian Dinar Heavily

The value of the Dinar steeped to a new low, Tuesday, after the exchange rate at the level of the Bank of Algeria was set at 140.1 units against the European currency, for the first time since the introduction of the euro, and this drastic slump came a month after the start of printing money, in light of the amendment brought to the law on currency and credit , despite the solemn but empty assurances of members of the Government, including the Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia, Finance Minister Abderrahmane Raouya and even the Governor of the Bank of Algeria, Mohamed Loukal, who insisted on the stability of the value of the dinar, stressing that the inflation rate won’t exceed 5 percent, and clamoring, “We have the guarantees for that”.

The figures of the Bank of Algeria on Tuesday revealed a historic decline in the value of the dinar against the euro, where the euro reached, 14 thousand and 10 dinars for the first time, while the dollar also hiked to exceed 114 dinars in exchange value.

This adverse juncture  occurred after the exchange rate of the euro a month before was the equivalent of 136 Dinars and 109 dinars for the dollar, and a few weeks before, the exchange rate of the euro did not exceed 121 dinars and the dollar was set at 108 dinars, and this raises many question marks, confirming what has been forewarned by economic experts, when they talked about the euro reaching at the official exchange rate around 150 dinars by the end of next March.

Minister of Finance Abderrahmane Raouya lamely argued of late that the dinar would not collapse any more. 

Last December, he also confirmed that his ministry has guarantees to protect the national currency and avert inflation from exceeding 5 percent in 2018, stressing that “Venezuela’s bleak scenario would not be repeated in Algeria, and that the Dinar would be relieved of any crisis”.