Algerian Prime Minister Ayman Ben Abdel Rahman seemed deeply moved when he spoke regarding the shortage of consumables in the market, during his response to the deputies following discussing the presentation of the general policy statement he submitted mid-week..
For its part, the Public Prosecution vowed to take strict measures once morest speculators whom the authorities accuse of being behind the waves of unexplained scarcity..
Addressing the deputies, Bin Abd al-Rahman said, “I apologize to every householder who found it difficult to obtain some widely consumed materials,” before he stopped talking for a moment when he was overwhelmed with tears, a scene that was met with warm applause from the deputies.
In his response to the deputies, Ben Abd al-Rahman promised that “the state will strike with an iron fist whoever tempted himself to play with the Algerians’ power and smuggle it to create an atmosphere of confusion and push the state to open the door wide to return to the brutal import that existed” before. He pointed out that all The materials with a wide consumption are “available and sufficiently” with an “important strategic stock for all materials,” noting that the Parliamentary Investigation Committee stood on this situation.
The Prime Minister highlighted that the purchasing power of the citizen remains at the center of public policy concerns, through the adoption of a foreign trade policy that controls imports and does not curb them, adding that the rise in prices is not specific to Algeria, but is a phenomenon that affects most countries of the world, including developing and developed countries. He added: “It is not possible to talk regarding the economic and social situation of any country, without talking regarding the issue of the citizens’ purchasing power, which always remains at the center of public policy concerns.” Yes, so as not to leave room for the malicious to deliberately darken the situation.”
Bin Abdul Rahman attributed the high inflation rate to the increase in the cost of producing goods and services, and gave an example of this by moving the cost of transporting a 40-foot container from China to Algeria, from an average of $3,500 in 2019 to $20,000 at the beginning of 2022, an increase of more than 470 %. The official in charge of the government completely denied that the authorities had stopped importing, an accusation made by some deputies, inferring that the import bill amounted to $26.5 billion until last August, compared to $24.5 billion in the same period of 2021, which, according to him, indicates The state has never curbed imports.
Referring to the period of the late President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the Prime Minister said that his interests would stand by the “criminal import” and the “empty containers” known to the previous period, as “we used to see hundreds of containers containing stones and waste imported with hundreds of millions of dollars draining our capabilities.” the nation on the part of those who wanted to bring the country to its knees.” This method was widely used by the import mafia to smuggle money in hard currency to foreign banks, and to take advantage of the official exchange rate available to importers.
The deputies had conveyed the citizens’ concerns regarding their daily lives, in which they are missing some basic materials such as oil, milk and a number of medicines, not to mention the car market crisis, which stopped the official import of it 3 years ago. on the purchasing power of citizens.
