Finance Minister Laaziz Faid indicated that the overall inflation rate fell to 4.25% during the first nine months of the current year.
The Minister of Finance, Laaziz Faid, appeared once again yesterday at the APN to answer multiple questions from deputies on the 2025 finance bill. The country's top financier defended the government's choices at length on the economic framework and options relating to the defense of purchasing power. From the outset, he will inform that the overall inflation rate fell to reach the level of 4.25% during the first nine months of the current year.
This decline, he explained, is mainly due to that observed in the food products category, which went from a rate of 14% to 3.6%. Responding point by point in relation to the remarks raised by the members of the APN, he will recall that if the PLF-2025 was developed on the basis of a barrel at 60 dollars, as a reference price, it is because, he noted, oil prices (Sahara Blend) must have lost 7 dollars between the start of the year and the month of October, where prices rose from 82 dollars to 75 dollars per barrel.
The minister also reacted to the question of the deputies who recalled the need to comply with article 72 of the organic law relating to finance laws (18-15) which obliges the government to present to Parliament a report on the situation of the national economy before the end of the first quarter of the financial year, as part of the preparation of the finance bill.
The minister justified this failure by the absence of reliable data at this time of the year to be clear on the directions to be given to the finance bill. According to him, the absence of data diminishes the importance of this operation. The minister reiterated the government's desire to continue the system of subsidies within the framework of preserving purchasing power.
Likewise, he underlined the extension of tax measures linked to the importation of meat and other basic products. In this regard, he also highlighted the historic level of expenditure planned in this bill consecrating the State's attachment to its social character. Budgetary expenditure should stand at 16,794.61 billion dinars in 2025, up 9.9% compared to the year 2024 (LF), while budgetary revenue should improve by 3.5% per year. compared to the closing forecasts for the year 2024, to reach 8,523.06 billion DA, mainly driven by the 9% increase in tax revenue.
Addressing the chapter of investment, the minister will note that expenditure increased during the first half of the current year by 1,797 billion dinars, thus going from 510 billion dinars at the end of June 2023 to 6,946 billion dinars at the end of June 2024, i.e. more than 34%. For the next financial year, unforeseen expenses are around 2,198 billion dinars, or 13.1% of the state budget. He also called for the finalization of project maturation studies in order to avoid reassessments. A commitment authorization of 361.86 billion dinars and payment credits of 248.68 billion DA are planned. This corresponds to operations in progress, representing respectively 16.4% and 7.9% of the total investment expenditure credits.
