Algeria

Up to and including 2013, Algeria had registered a positive current account balance every year since 1999, including very large surpluses in some years. The indicator peaked at a figure of 24.7% of GDP in 2006, according to IMF figures. However, the balance was transformed into a deficit of AD1.38trn (€11.4bn), or 4.4% of GDP, in 2014, helped...

High international oil prices in the mid-2000s saw Algeria record large fiscal surpluses, peaking at 13.8% of GDP in 2006, according to IMF figures. This allowed the authorities to pay down the country’s debt and indeed to begin accumulating large fiscal savings in the years that followed, stored mainly in the oil savings fund, which is known...

The largest economy in the Maghreb, Algeria is also the region’s wealthiest country in terms of purchasing power parity per capita. Hydrocarbons are the mainstay of economic activity; however, amid slowing production and exports, as well as the sharp drop in oil prices since mid-2014, the government is taking a range of measures to encourage...

Hydrocarbons remain the mainstay of Algeria’s economy, although following the drop in oil prices since mid-2014, the government is hastening efforts to encourage investment in other sectors. The fiscal and current account deficits – both of which are relatively new phenomenon for Algeria – are expected to narrow as spending cuts, efforts to widen...

The key message for manufacturing companies that are still encouraged by incentives is that the 2016 Finance Act has not significantly changed the Direct Taxes Code or the Code of Taxes on Sales despite the continuing fall of oil prices.

Algeria has attracted strong interest from foreign investors over the last few years. As a market of 40m people, which boasts substantial energy resources and maintains a steady demand for modern infrastructure supported by significant public investment, the country appears primed for significant growth in the coming years.