Algeria: Staff Report for the 2004 Article IV Consultation

IMF Staff Country Reports, February 15, 2005

Source details

Publication date: February 15, 2005.
Core message: Fiscal expansion contributed to job creation, but unemployment remains high; vulnerability of public finances to oil price fluctuations has increased; monetary policy helped keep inflation under control.
Principal policy objective identified: Sound management of high external inflows from hydrocarbon exports is key to improving the outlook for private sector–driven economic growth and employment.
Fiscal stance: The fiscal adjustment planned by the government will gradually bring the nonhydrocarbon primary deficit to a sustainable level.

Fiscal expansion has supported job creation.
Unemployment remains high.
Public finances are increasingly vulnerable to oil price fluctuations.
High external inflows from hydrocarbon exports require sound management to support private sector growth and employment.
Monetary policy has helped keep inflation under control.

Implement the planned fiscal adjustment to gradually restore sustainability of the nonhydrocarbon primary deficit.
Manage hydrocarbon-related external inflows prudently to support a shift toward private sector–driven growth and employment.
Maintain monetary policy settings that continue to contain inflationary pressures.

Source: Algeria: Staff Report for the 2004 Article IV Consultation (February 15, 2005).