Prime Minister, Minister of Finance, Aïmene Benabderrahmane, said Saturday that Algeria “will not give up its social role” while working to ensure the targeting of the real beneficiaries of subsidies.
“There is a misunderstanding about the transition from generalized to targeted subsidies provided for in the draft finance Bill (PLF) 2022,” said Benabderrahmane in repsonse to the concerns of MPs at a plenary session, led by president of the Parliament’s Lower House, Brahim Boughali, in the presence of members of the government, stressing that “the state will not give up its social role.”
“The subsidies, which are worth $17 billion, will no longer benefit undue beneficiaries and other intermediaries who have ruined national economy by benefiting from these transfers,” said the Prime Minister.
“After targeting the real beneficiaries, the funds recovered from the surplus of state social subsidies will be allocated to other sectors such as health and education and will be used to increase salaries,” added the PM.
We will “jointly” set the mechanisms for the implementation of Article 187 relating to the setting up of a national monetary compensation system in favor of eligible households, he said.
He further said that these mechanisms will be set up within the framework of a “committee that will be responsible for examining the modalities allowing a shift from generalized subsidies to the monetary compensation system, and this for the benefit of real beneficiaries.”
Benabderrahmane mentioned, in this regard, an in-depth study launched several years ago, in order to determine the modalities for targeting households eligible for state subsidies, with the assistance of several ministerial departments, including the Ministries of Interior, Finance and National Solidarity, in addition to the National Office of Statistics (ONS).
In 2021, the working group, created in 2006, included representatives of the Council of the Nation, then experts and deputies of the People’s National Assembly (APN), he said.
The Prime Minister further stressed that the value of social transfers for the year 2022 will amount to DZD1,942 billion, or 8.4% of gross domestic product (GDP), down by 19% compared to the forecasts of the Supplementary Finance Act (LFC) 2021.
Source APS