The trade surplus of Algeria increased to $39.07 billion last year, up 20.12 percent from $32.53 billion in the previous year, official figures indicated on Tuesday. The OPEC member's exports amounted to $78.23 billion, up 30.04 percent from January-December 2007, while imports jumped by 41.71 percent to $39.15 billion, according to the data published by the Customs National Centre for Information and Statistics and carried by the official news agency APS.
The value of oil and gas sales abroad, which accounted for 97.58 percent of total exports, rose 29.76 percent, APS said.
Algeria fears that the significant decline in oil prices will hurt its economy during 2009. The North African country has already announced its readiness to cut output.
