Massive departure of foreign workers from Algeria due to dwindling hard currency!

The latest measures taken by the Bank of Algeria to address the shortage of foreign hard currency due to the severe oil price drop mean that many foreigners aren’t inclined to renew their work permits, because working in Algeria becomes less attractive in terms of financial spin-offs.

And therefore, these austerity measures enforced by the Algerian government to cope with the current economic downturn mean that many foreign workers in Algeria have found great difficulty in transferring their money in foreign currency to their respective countries because of the strict threshold transfers.

In this sense, sources from the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security confirmed a significant decline in the renewal of work permits by foreign workers and  recriminations on the part of several foreign institutions operating in Algeria, in reaction to the stringent measures taken by the Bank of Algeria against the transfer of foreign currency abroad, owing to the ongoing austerity policy pursued by the government in order to deal with the economic crisis in the country resulting from the plummeting oil prices on the world market.

According to Echorouk’s sources, work in Algeria in the future will no longer entice foreigners like the Chinese and the Turks and will force many of them to return back home at the end of the term of their employment contracts with no chosen option for renewal.

Algeria has so far been a preferred destination for numerous foreign workers estimated at 140,000 including 40,000 Chinese workers, because it used to give them manifold advantages and banking facilitations notably in exchange and money transfer operations.

As a direct consequence and to ward off damaging delays in the deliveries of development and infrastructure projects due to lack of skilled labor in the country, the government will be compelled, sooner than later, to revamp its policy on the matter.