Anti-Speculation Drive Gains Digital Price Monitoring Tool

The Algerian Prime Minister, Seifi Gharib, has launched a new national digital platform for the daily monitoring of essential consumer product prices and their availability across various wilayas. This initiative, unveiled during a joint ministerial meeting, aims to enhance market oversight, combat speculation and monopolistic practices, and safeguard citizens' purchasing power. The meeting included relevant ministers, walis via videoconference, and representatives from national agricultural and trade unions.

This new mechanism will enable daily tracking of consumer product prices, allowing the government to intervene swiftly and effectively to ensure market supply and price stability. Prime Minister Gharib underscored the government's commitment to protecting the Algerian citizen's livelihood, vowing decisive action against any attempts to manipulate prices. He affirmed state support for transparent operators while confronting those exploiting the market for illicit gains, clarifying that the state encourages legitimate profits within market regulations.

The government's strategy also involves identifying regions supplying the national market at specific times, gathering precise data on cultivated quantities, harvests, and producer prices, alongside buyer information. This comprehensive approach aims to trace products from farms to wholesale markets and consumers, rather than imposing invoicing directly. Additionally, control teams are continuing inspections in several wilayas, including Oran, Jijel, Béjaïa, Annaba, Ouled Djellal, and Touggourt, to counter artificial scarcity and price manipulation, ensuring normal market supply. Cold storage facilities and free storage areas will also be subject to continuous monitoring to prevent exploitation.