ALGIERS, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- Algeria said Wednesday that the government will take a series of decisions, including earmarking a budget of 40 billion U.S. dollars to boost economic recovery process.
Algerian Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia noted that the government decided to revive public investment through a capital budget of more than 40 billion dollars in 2018, up by 10 billion dollars compared to 2017.
Speaking at the opening of the ongoing Algerian Employers Forum (FCE), Ouyahia said these public expenditures aim at encouraging and developing local production, including in agricultural sector.
The government will also reactivate the National Investment Fund to accompany major investments, and maintain the support measures to all investment projects, including providing low interest rate loans.
The PM further specified that the government also intends to develop measures meant to safeguard domestic market by reducing the volume of imports, in a bid to preserve foreign exchange reserves.
Ouyahia also urged economic operators and investors to get involved in this process, especially through investing in the development of local distribution chains for domestic agricultural and manufactured production.
Due to the plunge of oil prices in the last three years, the country's foreign exchange reserves have fallen by half, going from 200 billion dollars in 2014 to nearly 100 billion dollars currently.
The government said it will print some 60 billion dollars to help the Central Bank lending money to public treasury, although some financial experts warned that such a step would cause depreciation of the dinar and provoke inflation.
The FCE will wrap up on Friday, as participants are due to address thematic panels on areas including public-private partnership, alternative financing and taxation, as well as business climate and investment.
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