Algeria energy revenues up 15% in 2018

ALGIERS (Reuters): Algeria’s energy earnings rose 15.27 percent in 2018 from the previous year due to higher global oil prices, the government said.

Stronger revenues helped to reduce the OPEC member’s trade deficit by 53.73 percent to $5.03 billion in 2018, according to customs figures. Oil and gas exports, which accounted for 93.13 percent of total sales abroad, reached $38.34 billion, up from $33.26 billion in 2017, the figures showed.

The overall value of exports stood at $41.17 billion compared with $35.19 billion in 2017. Imports rose 0.3 percent to $46.20 billion in 2018, the customs data showed. Algeria has failed to reduce spending on imports despite import restrictions on some goods, including foodstuffs.