montage n° 4 - Ministère de l'énergie et des mines

performancesFinanceAlgeria's foreign exchange reserves exceeded70 billion dollars at the end of AugustAlgeria's foreign exchange reservesamounted to 70.28 billion dollars on31 August 2006, revealed the presidentof the finance and budget commissionon the radio to the APN, Mr BenaliaBoulahouadjeb, citing "official figuresof the Bank of Algeria”.Boosted by a particularly favourable oilclimate, these reserves have thusincreased by about 4 billion dollarssince the end of May 2006 where theysettled at slightly more than 66 billiondollars. At the end of 2005, theyamounted to 56.18 billion dollars andtoday represent about 3.5 years ofimports, at the current pace. MrBoulahouadjeb also noted that theincrease in reserves has meant anincrease in the amount of the RevenueRegulation Fund (FRR - Fonds derégulation des recettes) to 2,700 billiondinars or about 30 billion dollars, comparedto 1,923 billion dinars at the endof last year.This fund, which holds the surplus oilrevenue, has particularly been used topay foreign debt whose early repayments,initiated in May, brought thevolume to less than 6 billion at the startof the year. Since its creation in 2000and up to the end of August 2006, theFRR has been credited by a totalamount of 4,009 billion dinars, accordingto official data. Over the sameperiod, the withdrawals made on thisfund for the repayments of the principalof the public foreign debt reached1,303 billion dinars, i.e. a payment rateof 32.5%.Gulf Finance House wants to investin the Algerian marketThe Arab investment bank GulfFinance House (GHF) wants “to developits knowledge of the Algerian market”and explore all the possibilitiesoffered by the rapid development of theAlgerian economy, indicated apress release made by this financialinstitution.The company GFH, as an investmentbank, “wants to develop its knowledgeof the Algerian market and explore allthe possibilities offered by the extremelyrapid development of its economy” itwrites.“The financing needs are importantand GFH intends to provide its expertiseand its know-how in establishingstructuring projects”, emphasises thepress release.More generally, the bank expressed aparticular interest in setting up in thesub-regions of Maghreb and theMiddle East. This interest "is shown bythe 1.4 billion dollar transactionconcluded recently with Morocco relatedto two mixed-use property projects”,it states. This "marks the start ofactive prospecting by the financial institution– in Algeria, Morocco andTunisia – and proves its interest indeveloping projects in the region”, furtherstates the press release.Algeria is “a key component of ourregional expansion strategy (…) in aregion which is experiencing sustainedeconomic development”, confirmed theChairman of the bank, Mr Esa Janahi.The GFH, created in October 1999 inBahrain, is a regional leader in thedomain of investment in accordancewith the precepts of Islam.Energie & Mines31November 2006