First Independent Mena Newspaper
United Kingdom government hosted May 11 a major international conference in London, to accelerate progress on security sector reform, build on the international response to the ongoing drought and humanitarian crisis. The conference seeks also to set new international partnership needed to keep Somalia on course for increased peace and prosperity by 2020. Heads of […]
The International Monetary Fund has urged countries of the Middle East and North Africa to diversify their economies and implement policies that support jobs and productivity, like education and infrastructure reforms. Growth is slightly improving in this region, largely driven by higher oil prices and improved export prospects, said the IMF in its latest regional […]
The Tunisian economy continues to suffer from major difficulties, including high external and fiscal deficits, increasing debt, while growth is too low to reduce unemployment, says the International Monetary Fund. “Tunisia’s fiscal and external deficits reached record levels. The wage bill has climbed to one of the highest in the world, and public debt further […]
Battered by the oil price slump, the underdeveloped banking sector in Algeria sees new financing sources in Islamic finance to tap into the huge informal economy and catch up with Morocco and Tunisia, which have already allowed such participatory banks to operate. As it edges towards offering banking services to suit more religiously conservative investors, […]
“Algeria continues to face important challenges posed by lower oil prices (…) and growth in the nonhydrocarbon sector slowed under the effects of spending cuts”, says the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Inflation increased from 4.8 pc in 2015 to 6.4 pc in 2016 and stood at 8.1 pc year-on-year in January 2017. As to unemployment, […]
In a pessimistic tone that bodes ill for Algeria’s economic prospects, Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal announced yet a new slump in the country’s foreign exchange reserves, which currently stand at $112 billion. As Algeria’s revenues continue to be battered by the slump in oil prices, Sellal, who was speaking in Annaba at a meeting […]
The International Monetary Fund has postponed the second tranche of a loan worth $350 million to Tunisia because of a lack of progress in reforms covering public sector wage bill, the public finances and state banks. The IMF urged the acceleration of reforms for Tunisia to be eligible to receive the second and third tranches […]
Director of the International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde lauded Morocco for the efforts it undertook to restructure its economy. In an interview with weekly magazine, Jeune Afrique, Lagarde said Morocco is leading successful restructuring of its economy without depending on oil or agricultural commodities. She recalled that the credibility of Morocco’s reform earned it an […]
Algeria which has suffered a sharp decrease in oil revenues is seeking desperately to fill in its coffers with an Italian supply deal. The country’s state-owned Sonatrach and Italy’s energy company, Eni, inked a deal to supply Italy with 10 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually. The gas will be channeled through the Transmed […]
The drop in oil prices has taken a heavy toll on Algeria’s budget revenues with the trade deficit expanding to 15.8 billion dollars as of October compared to 13.7 billion dollars the same period last year. By the end of October, Algeria’s export revenues slipped by 23.44% standing at 22.7 billion dollars propelling the government […]