Aug 16, 2009
ALGIERS (Reuters) - Algeria held $144.3 billion in foreign exchange reserves at the end of June this year, largely unchanged from six months earlier, the official APS news agency cited the central bank governor as saying on Sunday.

The last time Algeria's central bank revealed the size of its foreign exchange reserves was in December 2008, when it said they stood at $143.1 billion.

Algerian officials have repeatedly said the oil and gas producer is shielded from the turmoil on global financial markets because it has sharply reduced national debt and relies increasingly on its own revenues to fund development.

However, the fall in world energy prices has cut receipts from oil and gas sales, which account for 97 percent of Algeria's total exports.

The government last month banned domestic banks from issuing consumer loans in a drive to cut imports and boost the country's shrinking trade surplus.
reuters