Algerian lawmakers keep fuel-price clause in 2027 budget and reject a higher wealth tax
ALGIERS — The finance committee of Algeria's lower house of parliament has completed its supplementary report on the 2027 Finance Bill, rejecting a proposal to double the wealth tax and keeping a clause that would give lawmakers a say over future fuel price rises, ahead of a plenary vote on Monday, 16 November.
The Finance and Budget Committee of the People's National Assembly (APN) examined five amendments referred by the Assembly's bureau and heard their sponsors. It either persuaded the author to withdraw each one, rejected it, or kept it for the full chamber.
On fuel, the committee maintained its amended Article 218, under which any review of fuel prices requires parliamentary approval. One author withdrew a proposal to fix a 2 per cent increase tied to the oil price. Another sponsor wants the article deleted; the committee rejected that request, so the whole Assembly will rule.
A proposal to raise the wealth tax from 1 per cent to 2 per cent was also turned down. The committee argued that a higher rate could encourage tax evasion rather than raise revenue, so the current rate stays.
The committee likewise rejected an appeal by a deputy representing the Algerian diaspora to drop a proposed Article 37 bis, which would add 500 dinars to the stamp duty on remote renewal of biometric passports for citizens abroad. It cited Article 147 of the Constitution, which bars amendments that cut public resources or raise spending without matching revenue.
The bill, which opened in the chamber on 2 November, plans spending of 17,882.6 billion dinars against revenue of 9,251.1 billion, on projected growth of 4.2 per cent and an oil reference price of 60 dollars a barrel. The fuel clause, which touches household budgets directly, is the item to watch on Monday.
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