Algeria Energy Earnings Up 18%

Algeria's energy earnings rose 18 percent in the first ten months of 2017, which helped reduce the trade deficit by 34 percent, official data showed on Monday.

The deficit decline pushed up the coverage of imports by exports to 75 percent, from 63 percent in the January-October period of 2016, according to customs figures.

Oil and gas exports, which accounted for 94.8 percent of total sales abroad, reached $27.18 billion in the first ten months of this year compared with $23.04 billion in the same period in 2016, due to higher global crude oil prices.

The value of overall exports rose 17.1 percent year-on-year to $28.67 billion, while imports were down 1.8 percent to $38.18 billion.

The government has approved restrictions in a bid to cut imports bill and cope with financial pressures after crude prices started falling in mid-2014.