APS : Sunday, 04 March 2018
ALGIERS-Minister of Industry and Mines Youcef Yousfi received Sunday in Algiers a delegation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), led by Mission Chief for Algeria Jean-Francois Dauphin, who reaffirmed Algeria’s
ability to overcome the difficulties induced by the decline in oil revenues, said the ministry in a statement.
During the meeting, Dauphin reaffirmed “the major potentialities of the Algerian economy to overcome the difficulties induced by the decline in oil revenues,” said the source.
“On the contrary, this is an opportunity to speed up the process to diversify the Algerian economy,” he continued.
Yousfi and Dauphin discussed the situation of the Algerian economy and the policies that have allowed Algeria to resist to the fall in oil prices on international markets since 2014, said the statement.
They also underlined the need to speed up the process to diversify the Algerian economy and provide the means to address the current financial challenges in recent years.
Yousfi explained to the IMF representative that “Algeria has so far resisted to the impact of the fall in oil prices through the measures adopted by the government” in the recent years.
The minister also referred to the progress made by the sectors playing a key role in the diversification of the national economy such as agriculture, tourism and industry.
As regards industry, Yousfi referred to the areas in which Algeria “has made major achievements” in the last few years like the steel industry, building materials, electronics, mechanics, textile and agrifood.
“These areas will allow us increase or even double the industrial sector’s share in the country’s GDP in the next few years,” said Yousfi.
The minister also said he was optimistic about the Algerian economy’s ability to overcome the current financial difficulties and move towards an economy less dependent on oil incomes.
