Algeria continues to prioritize defense spending in its 2015 draft budget to guard against any terrorist attacks following the January 2013 assault on the In Amenas gas project. This comes as Al-Qa’ida in the Islamic Maghreb this week pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, which holds large chunks of Iraq and Syria.
According to the draft budget bill released earlier this month, the defense and education sectors are each allocated about 21% of the ordinary budget. The defense sector’s share of AD1,048bn ($13.3bn) is up 9.6% on the 2014 budget in nominal terms, following a higher increase still of 15.7% over 2013. The budget allocations for defense spending surged in 2011 by 49.5% over 2010. (CONTINUED - 576 WORDS)
