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Algeria's Bouteflika signs 2016 budget law

Xinhua, December 31, 2015 Adjust font size:

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika on Wednesday signed the 2016 budget law, the official APS news agency reported.

The law is drawn on the basis of a reference oil price of 37 U.S. dollars one barrel, predicting non-oil economic growth of 4.6 percent and an inflation rate at around four percent.

The law provides a total expenditure of 74 billion dollars, down by nine percent compared to 2015 budget. The law predicts revenues of 44 billion dollars, down by 4.3 percent compared to 2015.

Before being signed by the president, the budget law hit controversy as the opposition parties stand against it, which they consider "unpopular" for including articles in favor of the rise of taxes on energy products, including electricity and fuel.

The opposition argues that these measures could "further affect the purchasing power of the poor class."

The measures are proposed in a context of nearly 50 percent decline in oil prices which heavily affected the government's incomes and forced Algeria to adopt an austerity plan. Endit