HIBAPRESS
Algeria, which is suffering from a severe financial crisis due to mismanagement and the absence of an economic vision, is seeking to knock on the doors of foreign institutions in search of external loans that will enable it to save faltering projects that the general budget is unable to finance, especially in the fields of energy and infrastructure.
Financing loans from the Asian Bank
In this context, the Minister of Hydrocarbons and Mines, Mohamed Arkab, and the Minister of Energy and Renewable Energies, Mourad Madjlad, received a delegation from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, in a new attempt to solicit external support to save what remains of the stalled projects, according to Algerian newspapers.
According to an official statement, the meeting focused on discussing the possibility of Algeria obtaining financing loans from the Asian Bank to finance projects in the sectors of hydrocarbons, mines, desalination of sea water, and industrial infrastructure, which are sectors that have long been described as suffering from poor management and a lack of economic feasibility.
Algeria officially requested funding for a number of projects that it is unable to complete due to a lack of liquidity, such as the iron ore mine in Ghar Jbilet, the integrated phosphate project, and the exploitation of zinc and lead, in addition to sea water desalination projects, in a move that reflects the fragility of the regime's financial situation and its lack of any real internal solutions to save the eroding economy.
Rising economic and financial deficit in Algeria
This decision contradicts the statement of the Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, who said during a meeting with dignitaries and officials in the state of Bechar, southwest of Algeria, last April: "We will not enter (resort to) debt, whatever the price, in case we resort to debt, we will lose our decision-making independence and our ability to defend just causes…".
Observers consider Tebboune's statements to be mere consumer speeches directed at the Algerian interior and do not reflect the reality of the Algerian institutions that have begun to resort to external loans in light of the rising economic and financial deficit in the country.
