The People's National Assembly in Algeria has approved the 2016 Finance Act, which will increase, among other things, the prices of petrol and diesel, water and electricity and gas. This Act is intended to tackle the impact of the economic crisis affecting the country and is the first of a series of austerity measures following the crisis caused by oil prices tumbling to their lowest level in the international markets.
Many observers and economic experts believe that the application of the increases approved by the Government in the Finance Act 2016 on electricity, petrol and other materials will affect the purchasing power of the country's citizens and actually have a direct negative impact on them.
Carriers are also increasing their prices before the end of the year, since higher fuel costs will entail more expensive transport prices. The head of the National Union of Carriers, Abdul Qadir Bhoshrat, stressed that raising the price of fuel by more than 30 percent, as a direct consequence of the Finance Act for the year 2016, "will inevitably lead to the lifting of the pricing of transport in its different forms; by up to 40 percent for the transport of persons and by up to 50 percent in the transport of goods."
Consequently, fruit and vegetable prices have grown significantly in recent days, both at wholesale and retail level, with increases ranging from 100 to 150 percent. This affects all kinds of products, including potatoes, courgettes, beans, tomatoes and carrots.
Whatever can be said about this, justifications and explanations have been offered by traders, although the absence of control is also considered a key factor in the fluctuation of the market and the high prices.
