Algeria's insistence that importers use letters of credit (L/Cs) to purchase goods seems to have had only a limited impact, according to official data.

Imports decreased by just 2.17 per cent over the first eleven months of 2009 compared with the same period in 2008 according to figures released by the National Centre for Information and Statistics (NCIS).

Trade balance

Algeria's imports were worth US$35.27 billion during the first eleven months of 2009 compared with US$36.05 billion during the same period of 2008, according to the NCIS.

It says Algeria's hydrocarbon-dominated exports, meanwhile, plummeted more than 45 per cent over the same period, to US$39.5 billion from US$72.41 billion.

Import measures

The figures have resulted in a substantial reduction in Algeria's trade surplus from US$36.35 billion dollars in the first eleven months of 2008 to just US$4.2 billion over the same period in 2009.

In July 2009, Algeria introduced several measures to reduce its import bill, including the mandatory use of L/Cs as the sole means of payment for imports.

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