Algerian budget ratified

An Algerian official source said that the Algerian Nation's Council (parliament) on Sunday ratified the state's draft budget for the year 2000, which is expecting a deficit of US $3.4 billion.

The budget law expects revenues at US $15.8 billion and expenditures at US $19.2 billion. The draft budget was prepared on the basis of an average price per barrel of oil at US $15. Fuel revenues in Algeria provide 95% of its foreign resources in hard currency.

The said budget law also expects an economic growth at 5% and inflation rate between 4 and 5%.