Overview
ALGIERS, The President of the republic, MR. AbdelmadjidTebboune, addressed a speech to the nation on the situation which crosses the country:
«A dear fellow citizen, Algeria crosses, today, another test transported by the new« coronavirus »which spreads in several countries of the world. Since the announcement of the appearance of this virus in Asia, the State took urgent and preventive measures in even to be able to face this pandemic, in an efficient way, if it came to spread in our country. Health is Man’s most precious of beneficial effects; and the health of the citizen, his his wellbeing and his dignity, are the most important to preserve for the State.
These are the main measures that came out of this meeting:
1-Closing of all land borders with the neighbouring countries with the possibility to allow displacements of persons in exceptional cases, by common consent with the Governments of the countries concerned.
2-Immediate suspension of all flights from and towards Algeria, except for planes freighters transporting no passenger.
3-Immediate closing of shipping, except ships transporting goods and property.
4-Immediate Disinfection of all means of public transport in national level and wilayas, as well as the stations of passengers’ transport.
5-Ban of gathering and of demonstrations whatever is their form and their nature and isolation of any place suspected of being a home of the pandemic.
6-Ban of export of any strategic products, medical or food, until the end of crisis; in order to preserve national strategic reserves.
7-Suspension of Friday’s prayer and all collective prayers and closing of mosques with maintaining of the call to prayers at the request of the Committee of the Fatwa and with the agreement of our distinguished Sheikhs and Oulémas.
8-Fighting and denunciation of the speculators who exploit, without scruple, the state of overwhelming panic to stock raw materials with the intention of provoking a shortage and raising prices.
Travel Restrictions
- All international flights to/from Algeria prohibited. This does not include cargo flights.
Source : IATA Timatic
Economic Measures
Reopening of the economy. The full lockdown of certain cities has ended, while the curfews, notably in Algiers, have been relaxed. Some stores were allowed to reopen before closing again due to the lack of observance of social distancing guidelines. A restrictive lockdown is being imposed during the 2-day Eid celebrations on May 23-24, including stringent curfew and severe limits to traffic.
Key Policy Responses
FISCAL
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· The government has prepared a supplementary finance law (SFL), which is being considered by the economic commission of the Assembly as of May 18 and will be debated at the end of May. It includes provisions amounting to 70bn dinars to mitigate the health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 crisis. For the health sector, this includes 3.7bn for medical supplies, 16.5bn for bonus payments to health workers, and 8.9bn for the health sector’s development. For the economic impact, the law includes 20bn for allowances to the unemployed because of COVID, and 11.5bn for transfers to poor households. Overall, in order to adjust to the new low oil price environment, the SFL plans for a reduction in current and capital spending by 5.7 percent (representing 2.2 percent of 2019 GDP) compared to the initial 2020 budget law. In response to the economic impact on household and enterprises of the lockdown measures, the authorities also announced that: (i) the declaration and payments of income taxes for individuals and enterprises have been postponed , except for large enterprises; and (ii) contractual deadlines would be relaxed and penalties for companies that experience delays in completing public contracts would be suspended.
MONETARY AND MACRO-FINANCIAL
- On March 15, the Bank of Algeria lowered the reserve requirement ratio from 10 percent to 8 percent, and its main policy rate by 25 basis points to 3.25 percent.
- On April 6, the Bank of Algeria announced that it was easing solvency, liquidity and NPLs ratios for banks. Banks are also allowed to extend payments of some loans without a need to provision against them.
- On April 30, the Bank of Algeria announced that it was cutting its main policy rate from 3.25 to 3.00 percent, that it was lowering its reserve requirement ratio from 8 percent to 6 percent, and that it was lowering haircuts on government securities used in refinancing operations.
EXCHANGE RATE AND BALANCE OF PAYMENTS
Source : IMF & WB
Civic Freedom Tracker
BAN ON PUBLIC GATHERINGS
President Abdelmadjid Tebboune bans all protests, marches, demonstrations, and other mass gatherings, due to the coronavirus epidemic. His order also closes all public spaces suspected of being a hub for the virus. (See primary source or citation here)
Type: order
Date Introduced: 17 Mar 2020
Issue(s): Assembly
Source : ICNL
