ALGIERS – Tuesday, 09 May 2023 (APS) – Minister of Finance Laaziz Faid received in an audience the World Bank’s Country Director for the Maghreb Jesko Hentshel, with whom he discussed cooperation prospects, the ministry said Tuesday in a statement.

The meeting, held on Monday, was an opportunity “to discuss the state and prospects of cooperation between Algeria and the World Bank (WB),”the same source stated.

The two parties commended the cooperation actions made so far, particularly regarding technical support in the financial sector, and agreed to enhance this cooperation in other areas of common interest, the statement added.

Laaziz Faid presented to his interlocutor the reform projects undertaken by Algeria, particularly in the budgetary field that will “establish a new methodology in the public finance’s management, centered on a logic of performance and results, adopting a medium-term sectoral program allocation with concrete objectives and precise indicators. The latter would highlight the State’s socio-economic development priorities”.

This reform, he added, comes to complete the improvements that have been achieved, particularly in investment and foreign trade, and will be consolidated by the forthcoming review of the legal framework governing the monetary sector through the new Currency and Credit Law, according to the statement.

In this regard, the minister expressed “the hope for substantial support from development partners to bolster Algeria’s economic development amid a global context marked by ample challenges,” the ministry said.

The minister also emphasized the climate challenge by reminding his interlocutor of the authorities’ efforts to safeguard citizens from the climate change’s consequences through legal and institutional measures, along with insurance policies adopted in this regard.

Moreover, he calls on his interlocutor to “further strengthen his institution’s support concerning knowledge transfer and capacity building likely to back Algeria in its far-reaching reform program.”

Hentshel “hailed Algeria on the progress made in implementing reforms across different areas resulting in enhanced transparency and improvement of the economic and financial ecosystem,” according to the ministry.

The World Bank’s official reiterated “the willingness of his institution to continue backing the measures taken by our country as part of its economic development and diversification program,” stressed to the same source.