Algeria’s Worsening Food Shortages Prompt Lawmakers’ Probe

(Bloomberg) -- Algerian lawmakers will investigate shortages of certain foods that are raising the prospect of fresh protests in the OPEC nation.

The upper house of Algeria’s parliament announced the creation of a commission “into shortages and speculation in staple food products,” the state news agency APS reported. 

Persistent increases in the international prices of oilseeds, powdered milk and grains are putting more pressure on the troubled finances of Algeria, which heavily subsidizes staple food products such as cooking oil, milk and bread. Oil and gas revenues rose in 2021, but the nation still faces a rise in its budget deficit. 

Authorities accuse speculators of causing the food shortages to profit from higher margins.

Amid tight controls on local media, many Algerians have taken to social networks to vent their frustration. In one post on Friday, an Algerian citizen put a formal request to authorities in the northeastern city of Batna to adopt two dairy goats, to make up for what he said was the absence of milk from the city’s stores.

Algeria’s government has stepped up a drive to reduce a massive food import bill since protests in 2019 demanding democratic rule in the tightly controlled nation forced longtime ruler Abdelaziz Bouteflika to resign. 

The government plans to cut spending on food subsidies that cost about $17 billion each year, once a compensation mechanism for the neediest Algerian households takes effect at a date yet to be determined. 

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