Hike in value of the Euro and the Dollar “sizzles” the Algerians’ purchasing power

Numerous wholesalers in Algeria didn’t waver to impose steep price increases on some imported consumer products and even on cosmetics and soft drinks because of the abrupt hike in the value of the Euro and Dollar and subsequently the sharp devaluation of the Algerian currency, the Dinar on the stock exchange market.

The spokesman of the Algerian traders’ Association, Tahar Boulenouar, sought to belittle the adverse impact of such a move arguing that the increases are just being proposed by the importers in case of the dinar’s continued slump , but such price rises wouldn’t hold sway in all the wholesale markets across the country, he said.

Mr Boulenouar explained that price increases at the wholesale markets are still uncertain, but they would affect some imported goods if the value of the dinar continued to fall, noting that some traders in the wholesale markets had followed up on the recent statement issued by the Bank of Algeria confirming the  hovering decrease in the value of the local Dinar currency, to take action by raising prices  of a set of consumer products and goods imported from overseas.

In this connection, Economist Abdelmalek Serrai stressed that the slump of the dinar impacted heavily on the prices of many items which are imported from abroad, stressing that this situation would doubtless have further adverse repercussions on the already-eroded purchasing power of the Algerian citizens against an overall backdrop of the austerity program upheld by the government because of the steep decline in oil prices on the world market.