US Export-Import Bank lends Algeria

Algerian officials said yesterday that the chairman of the US Export- Import Bank, James Harmon, informed President Abdelaziz Bouteflika of Algeria that the Bank will present long-term loans to Algeria whose value have not yet determined.

The officials said that Harmon wrote a letter to Bouteflika, in which he said the bank's board of directors agreed yesterday to expanding its programs in Algeria and grant Algeria long-term loans with no ultimate limit.

Direct US investments in Algeria reached $3.5 billion and focus on the gas and petroleum industries.