The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in its latest report that Algeria "get bravely involved in the modernization process of its financial system," dubbing it as "stable." In its assessment of the financial and banking situation in Algeria and the supervision of banks, IMF said "the public banks which were, a long time ago, simple tools in the hands of the state, have recently witnessed, a radical change."
The Algerian banks continue to send a large proportion of the activity of the banking sector in its totality. They represent 91 percent of loans on the long run and 84 percent of banking deposits.
For IMF, the "budgetary cost for the restructuring of banks during the previous years was considerable through a re-capitalization which cost AD74.4 billion and a standardization of enterprises estimated at AD672.1 billion by end 2002."
Concerning the private banking sector in Algeria, IMF thinks that "the development of this sector is still modest," adding that "most of these banks are the result of a family business which operations and accounts often lack transparency."
As regard debts, IMF report conveyed that "over $22.6 billion of foreign debts, an anticipated reimbursement of $2.7 billion may be achieved without long negotiations or penalties." (menareport.com)
© 2004 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
