Foreign exchange reserves represent the dollar reserves held by each country’s central bank. In the Maghreb, central bank reserves vary from country to country. Here is the latest official data for each country regarding foreign exchange reserves.
In Algeria, the Central Bank (BA) reported, in its annual report for the year 2023, published on Thursday, June 8, ” positive performances ” of the Algerian economy during this year.
The BA lists the ” strong slowdown in inflation, the appreciable GDP growth rate, the balance of payments surpluses ” as well as ” the increased accumulation of foreign exchange reserves ” as highlights of these performances.
Algeria: $68.9 billion in foreign exchange reserves at the end of 2023
In this sense, it was revealed that Algeria’s foreign exchange reserves increased by 8 billion dollars, reaching 68.9 billion dollars at the end of last year against 60.9 billion dollars at the end of 2022. This amount does not include monetary gold, according to the same report.
” This level of foreign exchange reserves, largely higher than the minimum recommendations of international standards, demonstrates the solidity of Algeria’s external position ,” we can also read in the report.
Morocco: 36.6 billion dollars as of July 31, 2024
In Morocco, foreign exchange reserves also recorded an increase of 6.4% in 2023 compared to the previous year, according to the annual report of Bank Al-Maghrib (BAM), published on July 31.
Official reserve assets have, in fact, reached 359.4 billion dirhams, or the equivalent of 36.6 billion dollars. ” This increase is mainly attributed to net external financing of the Treasury amounting to 35 billion dirhams ,” the report specifies.
Libya: $29 billion by March 1, 2024
If we proceed by classification, it is Libya which comes in third position in terms of foreign exchange reserves among the Maghreb countries, behind Algeria and Morocco.
The governor of the Central Bank of Libya (CBL), quoted by Al Arabiya newspaper, announced last March that Libya’s foreign exchange reserves amounted to around $29 billion as of March 1, 2024, noting that this figure is lower than the needs of the Libyan economy.
Tunisia: 7.8 billion dollars in July 2024
Like Algeria and Morocco, Tunisia’s foreign exchange reserves in 2024 have also seen a notable increase compared to the previous year, according to data from the Central Bank of Tunisia (BCT), published in early July.
Tunisia’s foreign exchange reserves reached 24.3 billion Tunisian dinars at the beginning of July, the equivalent of 7.8 billion dollars.
The BCT report highlights that this increase, of around 1.4 billion dinars (452 million dollars) compared to the previous year, covers 111 days of imports, one day more than previously.
