BY: Hana Saada
ALGIERS- During a plenary session at the People’s National Assembly, devoted to the examination of the draft monetary and banking law, the Minister of Finance, Laaziz Faid, voiced on the increase in the tourist allowance and the opening of exchange offices.
Regarding the increase in the tourist allowance, the Minister of Finance said that a study “is being carried out by the Bank of Algeria in this regard”.
It should be remembered that the annual amount of the tourist allowance in Algeria is set at 15,000 Algerian dinars, or about 100 euros. The President of the Republic, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, had promised to increase the value of this allowance to 1500 euros.
Currency exchange office
Regarding the opening of exchange offices, Mr. Faid indicated that the Bank of Algeria is in the process of putting in place the regulatory texts relating to the creation and operation of these offices which will be ready as soon as the law on Money and Credit will come into force.
He added that these offices could be opened in different strategic points (airports, ports, tourist areas), and across the different cities and wilayas to attract foreign currencies, while revising the profit margin of these offices.
Inflation
As regards the role of the Bank of Algeria in price stability, he stressed that “inflation is currently due to non-monetary reasons and multiple exogenous factors, such as; disruptions in the supply chain caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, which led to a shortage of certain products and an increase in the prices of available products, as well as an increased demand in certain sectors, leading to higher prices”.
He further asserted that “managing inflation is a complex challenge and central banks have limited tools to control it.”
