Imported Cars And Dinar Value Files Mine Government’s Activity

• The government found itself on an amalgamated road directly at the beginning of the new year with two files that caused a lot of controversy, the first being the car import file, and the second was the collapse of the dinar’s value and with it the erosion of the purchasing power of large segments of Algerians.

• In the context, the Ministry of Industry found itself in great confusion regarding the file of importing new cars.

After announcing the date for the delivery of import licenses, the process was delayed for reasons that the Ministry of Industry did not specify.

The ministry said that it studied 10 import files and one related to manufacturing.

In addition, it announced the granting of 4 import licenses without disclosing those involved or the brands of the cars that will enter the country.

• This situation necessitated the intervention of the first ministry online to alert the Ministry of Industry after the great uproar caused by the file of importing new cars, as a statement of the services of the Prime Minister stated that the Ministry of Industry should deal transparently with regard to the car import file, especially after announcing the granting of 4 new import licenses without disclosing the auto dealers and the car brands concerned.

• The way the Ministry of Industry dealt with the file further aggravated the problem when it talked about granting 4 licenses that were distributed to parties without disclosing them, and in the same statement called on the media not to be drawn into what it called adverse campaigns on social platforms, in a bid to end to the ongoing controversy.

• The Ministry of Industry’s awkward handling of the new vehicle import file caused a heated debate and controversy on the social platforms, especially on the most popular Facebook network in Algeria, where they harshly criticized the Minister of Industry, Farhat Ait Ali.

• A second file emerged that could be classified as one of the mines facing the government at the beginning of the new year, which is the file of the decline in the value of the dinar and the collapse of citizens’ purchasing power.

• Many Algerians noticed that with the beginning of the new year, the prices of many basic consumer items had risen, such as pasta, vegetables, drinks, juices, poultry feed, potato seeds and others.

• Many attributed these increases to the decline in the official value of the dinar according to what was announced by the Bank of Algeria, where the exchange rate of $ 1 reached 132 dinars at the beginning of 2021, and it is expected that the national currency will pursue its downward trend in the coming months, on the basis that the official exchange rate will reach 142 dinars for every dollar, which is stipulated in the Finance Act.

Observers and social platform leaders considered that the increases in the prices of many products with which the Algerians collided with at the beginning of the current year, are only a prelude to further hikes, when the dinar will reach its peak decline against the dollar according to what has been decided in the Finance Law for 2021, i.e. 142 dollars in exchange for $ 1, and this untoward contingency will affect large segments of the Algerian population, especially those citizens with limited and middle monthly incomes.