Foreign banks have to fund investments or to leave Algeria

Foreign private companies operating in Algeria started conducting structural changes to their strategy in the Algerian market. Some of them plan to leave the country as the Bank of Algeria issued a decision related to rules about banking transactions.

Algeria counts 14 foreign banks from Europe, America and the Middle East. For the first time, their profits had fallen as about 50 percent of their income was from foreign trade operations.
Internal correspondences of the Bank of Algeria showed that all the foreign banks were specialized in funding foreign trade operations and were turned into no more than funders of importing operations.
The decision of the Bank of Algeria stipulates that all the banks should inform their clients of the banking conditions applicable on banking transactions. Of them, accounts use, service prices and mutual commitments between banks and clients.
Private banks showed dissatisfaction over the restrictions issued by the Bank of Algeria as they are obliged to respect Algerian clients and world rules.
According to sources, the government and the Bank of Algeria are partially held responsible as they allowed public banks to be turned into no more than shops to fund foreign trade and imports which exceeded $57 billion in 2012 and expected to reach $72 billion this year.