IMF expects unemployment to rise 10.8 pct in Algeria

The International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday that it predicts unemployment in Algeria to to hit 10.8 percent in 2014, compared to 9.8 percent in 2013.

The APS news agency quoted a report issued by the IMF on Tuesday as saying that unemployment rate is likely to rise 10.8 percent in 2014, noting that it would hit 11.3 per cent in 2015.

In April, IMF said unemployment rate in the North African nation should be around 9.4 percent in 2014 and 9 per cent in 2015.

As for inflation rate, the IMF predicts it to drop to 3.2 percent in 2014, but likely to hit 4 percent in 2015, compared to 3.3 percent in 2013. Inflation hit an exceptional increase of nearly 9 percent in 2012.

Algeria's economy would perform a growth rate estimated at 4 per cent in 2015, compared to 3.8 per cent in 2014, the report predicts.

This oil-rich country is struggling vainly to develop non- hydrocarbon economies, while hydrocarbons are still representing 96.09 percent of the country's exports.