2023-10-05 10:10:48
ALGIERS – Minister of Finance, Laaziz Faid, affirmed Wednesday in Algiers that the measures taken by public authorities, in particular by ensuring the abundance of raw materials, the regulation and subsidies of prices, will contribute to reducing the inflation rate in continuous decline for several months.
During a session at the National People’s Assembly (APN), chaired by Salem Zentar, vice-president of the APN, in the presence of the Minister of Relations with Parliament, Basma Azouar, the minister said in response to questions of deputies concerning the 2023 amending finance bill, that the average price increase reached 9.7% in July, emphasizing that since last May, the consumer price index has experienced a successive monthly decline “.
Regarding the forecasts of the inflation rate for the year 2023 (7.5 pc), Mr. Faid specified that the composition of the Algerian consumer basket, made up of several subsidized products and services, was taken into account, as well as the expected effects of the measures planned by the government “in particular those linked to the increase in the supply capacity of food and agricultural products, to the control and subsidy of the prices of basic consumer products through a revision to the reduction in the rate of customs duties.
Among these measures are the reduction of customs duties from 30% to 5% on the importation of fresh, refrigerated and vacuum-packed beef and sheep meat, as well as imported live livestock, in addition to “price monitoring and the fight once morest speculation on commodity prices, which should reduce inflation in the remaining months of the current year,” he stressed.
Regarding the downward revision of customs duties on imported meat with retroactive effect (from March 1, 2023), Mr. Faid explained that this measure will guarantee “the availability of these products in local markets at studied and reasonable prices, particularly during the holy month of Ramadan in order to preserve the purchasing power of the consumer.
Towards the opening of bank agencies in the newly created wilayas
The minister spoke of the efforts of the public authorities to rationalize imports which made it possible to reduce them from almost 60 billion dollars in 2014 to less than 39 billion dollars in 2022.
Responding to MPs who raised the question of investment projects frozen in a number of wilayas, he said that “the freeze was recently lifted on 782 operations spread across the national territory with authorizations for commitment of a value of 1.172 billion DA.
In the same vein, the minister explained that it is up to the sectors concerned to present requests to lift the freeze on investment operations to the Ministry of Finance.
In response to the interventions of certain deputies concerning the absence of bank agencies in certain newly created wilayas, he indicated that preparations were underway to open bank agencies in wilayas lacking these financial structures.
He added that the Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development (BADR), for example, had branches in the seven newly created wilayas, namely In Salah, El-Menia, Touggourt, Ouled Djellal, El-Meghaier and Beni Abbès, and the National Bank of Algeria (BNA) of three agencies in Djanet, Touggourt and Timimoune in addition to an agency being created in In Guezzam.
Referring, moreover, to the recruitment operations for teachers holding Magisterium and Doctorate degrees, Mr. Faid said that his department took charge of this operation by opening 4,800 additional budget positions for the year 2023, in addition to the 3,156 vacant budget positions available to the Higher Education and Scientific Research sector, or nearly 8,000 positions.
For the modernization of tax services, the Minister of Finance affirmed that the tax administration was working to implement the commitment of the President of the Republic, Mr. Abdelmadjid Tebboune relating to the digitalization of tax services, specifying that the number of tax services equipped with this system has reached a total of 62 including 41 tax centers and 20 local tax centers in addition to the Department of Large Enterprises (DGE).
During their debate on the bill, several deputies welcomed the measures contained in this text, particularly those intended to strengthen the purchasing power of citizens, calling for greater efficiency in the application of these measures capable of ensuring price stability and availability of widely consumed products.
Other members of the APN welcomed the easy measures contained in this bill aimed at reducing the tax pressure and fighting once morest tax evasion, pleading, moreover, for the unfreezing of local projects in a number of wilayas particularly in the areas of public works, transport, health and youth and sports.
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