Algeria Approves 2027 Finance Bill as Tebboune Sees 50 Billion Dollars a Year in Hard Currency
Algeria’s Council of Ministers approved the draft finance law for 2027 on Sunday after President Abdelmadjid Tebboune ordered that the wage increases he had promised be written into it and that it carry no tax affecting the purchasing power of middle and low income households, according to the council’s statement carried by the state news agency APS. A day earlier, Tebboune said the economy would grow by between 4.01 and 4.02 percent this year and that projects under way would provide a stable annual income in foreign currency of at least 50 billion dollars.
A budget built around pay and purchasing power
The statement records two presidential orders on the 2027 bill, to include the pay rises and to exclude any tax that touches purchasing power, followed by its approval. It published no spending, revenue or deficit figures for 2027. At the same meeting the council accepted African Development Bank financing for the El Menia to In Salah to Tamanrasset section of the railway line to Tamanrasset, and Tebboune ordered the immediate launch of the Laghouat to El Menia to In Salah to Tamanrasset sections, which he called the top priority in public works. He set the end of 2028 for delivery of the complete line, so that passengers can travel by train from the north to Tamanrasset in the far south.
The 50 billion dollar foreign currency outlook
In his periodic meeting with the national press, broadcast on Saturday evening, Tebboune said growth would exceed the 3.8 percent the IMF forecast for this year in its latest report. He said a stable annual foreign currency income of at least 50 billion dollars would come from the car industry, mining, the integration of iron into national industry and of electronic chips into the local manufacture of electrical and household appliances, and that foreign exchange reserves would remain at an acceptable level at least until 2031. He added that hydrocarbons would stay important, with exploration and efforts to attract strong global companies continuing, and that gross domestic product of 400 billion dollars was possible by the end of 2026 or in the first quarter of 2027. Among the projects registered with the national investment promotion agency are 10,000 he described as excellent, and the agency has recorded 300 projects linked to foreign investors.
Projections set out on 3 and 4 October
| Item | Figure | When |
|---|---|---|
| Growth in 2026, presidential estimate | 4.01% to 4.02% | 2026 |
| Growth in 2026, IMF forecast cited | 3.8% | 2026 |
| Stable foreign currency income | at least $50bn a year | from projects under way |
| Gross domestic product | $400bn | end 2026 or Q1 2027 |
| Foreign exchange reserves | acceptable level | at least to 2031 |
| Railway to Tamanrasset | complete line | end 2028 |
Algerian Council of Ministers statement of 4 October 2026 and the President’s media interview of 3 October 2026, as carried by APS.
Why it matters: the 2027 bill writes in the wage increases the President promised and excludes taxes that affect the purchasing power of middle and low income households, while the statement gives no spending or revenue figures. Tebboune’s growth estimate of 4.01 to 4.02 percent, 0.21 to 0.22 percentage points above the 3.8 percent IMF forecast he cited on our calculation, and his 50 billion dollar foreign currency projection are the yardsticks the 2027 accounts will be read against. Algeria is also one of the seven OPEC+ producers that on Sunday kept November crude output at September levels, with its required production at 1.007 million barrels a day, 3.2 percent of the seven countries’ combined 31.01 million, on our calculation.
Outlook: Tebboune asked the agriculture minister and the government’s secretary general to prepare a special Council of Ministers meeting on agriculture. He also said the railway serving the integrated phosphate project should be finished by the end of this year at the latest, and that the expansion of the port of Annaba, part of the same project, is due by the end of the first quarter of 2027.
Sources: Algerian Council of Ministers, Algeria Press Service, OPEC, The Edge.
