Algeria has run up cumulative budget deficits of over $100bn since 2009, with deficits recorded even in 2011-14 when oil prices were over $100/B.
They have ballooned since as oil prices tanked (see charts 1 &2). 2017 was the closest Algeria has got to balancing the budget in recent years, with a deficit of ‘only’ $10.8bn (8.8% of GDP). But austerity was reversed in the 2018 budget as Algeria embarked on plans to stimulate the economy through counter-cyclical spending funded by the central bank printing money (MEES, 13 October 2017). (CONTINUED - 1288 WORDS)
