Algeria Exports FaIl 45%

ECONOMY: Algerian exports totalled $39.5 billion during the first eleven months of 2009, marking a 45.4% decline over the same period in 2008, the National Centre for Informatics and Statistics (CNIS) reported on December 21, 2009. Algeria’s trade balance surplus shrank from $36.35 billion in 2008 to $4.2 billion in 2009. Imports, however, showed a decline of just 2.2% compared to 2008.