Algerian lawmakers move to put fuel prices under parliamentary control
ALGIERS — A parliamentary committee has backed an amendment that would stop the government from raising petrol and diesel prices by administrative decision, requiring instead that any increase be approved by Parliament through a finance law.
The Finance and Budget Committee of the National People's Assembly (APN), the lower house, adopted the change as Article 218 in its preliminary report on the 2027 Finance Bill. The measure is not yet law. It must first be debated in plenary session, where examination of the bill runs from 2 to 16 November, and then follow the rest of the legislative process.
Fuel prices are among the most politically sensitive issues in Algeria. Pump prices are kept low by state subsidies, and any adjustment reaches households, transporters and farmers at once. Placing such decisions inside the annual budget law would make them a matter of open parliamentary debate rather than executive discretion.
The government presented the bill as a framework for 2027 spending and growth, and has said it introduces no new tax on household purchasing power. The committee amendment does not change current pump prices. It would only fix the procedure for any future revision.
The same report contains several other proposals, including rules on the valuation and use of seized foreign-registered vehicles, customs facilities for returning expatriates, and an extension of the deadline for regularizing unfinished buildings. The plenary may confirm, modify or drop them before the final vote.
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