Hard Currency On The Rise … And “Square” Informal Market Active Across Hundreds Of Virtual Pages!

The exchange rate of the hard currency, the euro, came back Monday, relatively high, at the level of the exchange informal market in Port Said Square in downtown Algiers before the start of the health-related quarantine and curfew, to reach 187 dinars, while the US dollar stands at the threshold of 170 dinars, and this comes at a time when Merchants do not practice offering, selling, and buying after the outbreak of the Corona virus epidemic at the level of the “Square”, as they are transported for sale on social media pages, which raises the price despite the stopping of travel, flights and import operations.

After two weeks of decline, the price of the euro and the dollar returned to rise relatively at the level of the black market and witnessed stability in some provinces of Algeria, although all expectations were indicating the price collapse to at least 160 dinars for the euro after the suspension of land, sea and air flights, travel and air traffic, in addition to the cancellation of Umrah and the possibility of canceling the Hajj pilgrimage and freezing imports.

Some materials are temporarily coming from China and countries that have witnessed an escalation of the epidemic. This slight increase is due to the hundreds of Facebook pages that were opened for the sale of “hard currency”, which is witnessing a rush by some traders and importers who are working to store it to the post-web stage. A.

The economist and professor in the field of economic governance Abdelkader Priche told “Echorouk” that those who control the hard currency market are keen to prevent its collapse, because it is in their interest to keep the euro price high in the informal market to achieve large profit margins.

He considered that a large part of the source of the hard currency supply at the informal market, i.e. about 90 percent, it remains suspect that may be due to the phenomenon of inflating import bills and smuggling currency abroad, calling for the necessity of encircling this market and introducing it into official channels, especially since “the Squares” have become a black point that distorts the Algerian economy.

He also stressed that the collapse of the foreign exchange rate in the informal market during the past two weeks was due to the decline in demand for the euro and the dollar as a result of travel restrictions in relation to the luggage trade, and the cancellation of trips to Umrah and travels abroad in the spring holiday season, and this is normal in such circumstances, he said.

Notwithstanding, he explained that this decline will not benefit the formal economy, because it is a black market and prices will duly return to the rise after these reasons disappear and hopefully the salutary exit from the Corona pandemic crisis.