Algeria’s fiscal oil and gas revenue in 2014 fell to AD3,388.3bn ($42.4bn), from AD3,678.1bn ($48.4bn) in 2013, according to recently-released Finance Ministry figures. Of 2014 revenues AD1,577.7bn ($19.7bn) was allocated to the budget and AD1,810.6bn ($22.6bn) transferred to the state reserve fund, the Fond de Regulation des Recettes (FRR). But, amid a gaping budget deficit, a record AD2,965.6bn ($37.1bn) was withdrawn from the FRR in 2014, up 39% on 2013’s AD2,132.4bn ($28bn).
At end 2014 net FRR assets were AD4,408.4bn ($55.1bn), down from AD5,563.5bn ($73.2bn) at end-2013. The FRR is allocated all “surplus revenue” which is generated from the difference between the reference oil price of $37/B, assumed in the budget, and the actual market price at which oil is sold during the year. The FRR reserves are currently used exclusively to cover the budget deficit, state news agency APS says, a development that worries the authorities. The budget deficit was estimated at AD3,438bn ($43bn) in 2014 (MEES, 28 March 2014) and is projected to rise further to AD4,173bn ($52.5bn) in 2015 (MEES, 16 January). Algeria estimates its 2014 GDP at AD17,731bn ($222bn). (Budget exchange rates used above are $1=AD76 in 2013, AD80 in 2014 and AD79 in 2015.) (CONTINUED - 387 WORDS)
