ALGIERS – Thursday, 06 April 2023 (APS) – The President of the Republic, Abdelmadjid Tebboune said that all economic indicators of Algeria were positive and that the national economy was in the right direction, stressing the attachment of the State to its social character and the end of the administrative management of the economy.
In a podcast broadcast by the Qatari news channel “Al-Jazeera”, President Tebboune said that “all economic indicators of Algeria are green and the national economy is in the right direction,” noting that the country recorded “growth, development, hopes, and horizons, as evidenced by all international bodies.
“The real strength of the people is not military power, but rather the economic performance,” he said.
He recalled that Algeria was the 3rd or 4th economy in Africa and has no external debt with internal economic growth of 4.3%, stressing that the per capita income in Algeria is two and a half times higher than that in some neighboring countries.
The country has a foreign exchange reserve worth US$64 billion, a financial surplus, investments are launched and many jobs created. Wages in Algeria have been increased for the third time in a row (+32% for an inflation rate of 9%).
The Head of State also recalled the creation of the unemployment benefit which benefits some two million unemployed.
In his analysis of the country’s economic indicators, President Tebboune said that the momentum of the national economy was currently marked by a reduction in imports “without depriving citizens of essential needs”, on the one hand, and a record increase in exports, on the other.
The other significant fact in this momentum is that sectors such as Agriculture contribute effectively now to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Algeria having reached an agricultural production worth US$34.5 billion by the end of 2022 (i.e. 17% of GDP), while the projected contribution of the industrial sector to GDP is expected to soar to at least 10% by 2024-2025.
Referring to the hydrocarbon sector, President Tebboune emphasized the willingness of Algeria to increase its production capacity, stating that the development of gas exports will not be at the expense of the comfort of Algerian households, whether gas supply or water and electricity supply.
Stressing that “the domestic consumption of gas is huge,” he recalled that the rate of household connection to gas had reached 72% nationwide.