HIBAPRESS – Abdellatif Baraka
Algeria announced that it will receive more than $110 million from funds smuggled abroad, after Switzerland processed four judicial delegation files, in a move that came after years of news circulating about the transfer of huge resources outside the country without any effective regulatory impact.
A statement from the Council of Ministers stated that the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and the National Community Abroad, Ahmed Attaf, presented a presentation during the government meeting on the recovery of smuggled funds, confirming the processing of 20 files out of 33 judicial delegations, while only four files have been completed so far. But the process raised questions about the effectiveness of internal policies in Algeria, especially after many files remained unaddressed, and other countries, such as France, did not respond to the judicial delegations directed to them. This situation reflects the fragility of government oversight of the country's resources, with continued weak transparency and the ability to control the transfer of funds abroad. While the official regime welcomed the partial recovery of funds, public opinion still wonders about the size of the remaining funds, and whether these measures are capable of addressing the roots of corruption that allowed the squandering of the country's resources for decades.
