Value of tourist allowance: “Far from covering the needs of the traveler abroad” (Minister of Finance)
BY: Hana Saada
ALGIERS- The Minister of Finance, Laaziz Faid, touched on the increase in the value of the tourist allowance, which, he acknowledged, “is far from covering the needs of the traveler abroad.”
“The tourist allowance was instituted in 1997 by an instruction from the Bank of Algeria. Its value is set at 15,000 dinars (about 100 euros currently with the official exchange rate,” noted the Minister in a plenary session at the Council of the Nation devoted to oral questions from senators concerning the text of the law on currency and credit.
The file is being examined at the level of the Bank of Algeria
Asked at the Council of the Nation about the increase in the tourist allowance, the Minister of Finance said that “the determination of the value of this allowance is the responsibility of the Bank of Algeria in consultation with the authorities concerned.”
Laaziz Faid recognized, in this sense, that “this value is far from covering the needs of the traveler abroad.”
This “requires studying the possibility of reviewing this level. The file is being examined at the level of the Bank of Algeria, taking into account the financial balances of the State”, he added, according to the APS agency.
Regulatory texts for the management of exchange offices
Concerning exchange offices, the Minister specified that their opening is governed by the law on currency and credit, with the authorization of the Currency and Credit Council.
He indicated that “the Bank of Algeria is in the process of drawing up the regulatory texts for the management of exchange offices, which will be ready as soon as this law comes into force.”
The opening of these offices at airports, ports, and tourist areas across the country could “attract foreign exchange in view of the revision of the profit margin of these offices”, he added.
