Report reveals bankruptcy of Algerian municipal towns

A report prepared by a team of experts assigned by the Algerian presidency on the process of the elected municipalities and councils revealed "horrible figures" concerning bankruptcy and financial discrepancies in these municipalities, whose debts reached 18.82 billion Algerian dinars at the end of 1998, due to theft and embezzlement from the state budget in these towns.

The Algerian daily al-Sahafa said on Friday, quoting well-informed sources, that it will not be ruled out that Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika will use this report to search for practical proposals concerning the municipalities and the councils which will be solved before June, especially the increasing number of political voices which demand solving these councils which have become a heavy burden on the state and its projects.

The paper indicated the way these councils were established and the local and municipal elections that took place in 1997.