Algeria’s 2014 budget indicates a deficit of AD3,438bn ($43.6bn at $1=AD78.8), up 12.4% on 2013. The 2014 deficit will represent 18.1% of GDP, up from 12.8% for 2013. The draft law was presented to parliamentary committees this week, ahead of a later full debate in parliament.
The cabinet meeting, chaired by the ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, was the first since his return from France, where he is reported to have recovered from a mini-stroke. With the president’s long absence the government was unable to issue a supplementary budget for 2013 which usually fine-tunes projections for the year. Earlier in September the president reshuffled his cabinet, replacing a third of his ministers, and changed some military officers. (CONTINUED - 577 WORDS)
