Algeria's foreign exchange reserves hit $191.8bn

Foreign exchange reserves of Algeria hit 191.866 billion US dollars by the end of September 2013, Governor of the Central Bank Mohamed Laksaci said Sunday. "Foreign exchange reserves have returned to positive developments after the negative balance recorded in June 2013 to 189,768 billion dollars, against 190.66 billion in December 2012," Lakcasi said during the presentation of the monetary and financial trends for the first three quarters of 2013. Laksaci noted that external debt fell to 3.47 billion dollars during the period from January to September 2013, compared to 3.67 billion in the same period of 2012. Inflation stabilized at around 5.32 percent in September 2013, compared to 6.59 percent in June of the same year, the official said. However, Laksaci specified that oil export revenues, which constitute 97 percent of the incomes of Algeria's foreign currency, experienced a contraction of 12.25 percent from January to September 2013 to 32.14 billion dollars, compared to 37.5 billion dollars during the same period last year. Yet, import bill increased by 10.24 percent over the same period of 2013