Algeria adopts the largest budget in its history for the year 2026

Algeria is preparing to adopt a record budget, the largest in the country’s history, with a total value of $131 billion, according to the draft finance law for 2026.

The new budget raises the spending ceiling compared to the previous year by about $5 billion, which reflects the government’s move towards expanding its economic and social programs, in addition to strengthening its defense capabilities.

The most prominent feature of this budget is the size of the appropriations allocated to the defense sector, which was estimated at $27.17 billion, an increase of nearly two billion dollars over the 2025 budget.

Revenues and social support

It is expected that the state’s public revenues will reach about $62 billion, while $44.6 billion has been allocated to social support, including $3.3 billion to address unemployment, in a step aimed at reducing the social gap and strengthening the safety net for citizens.

No new taxes… but tight control

Despite the large amount of spending, the draft law did not include imposing new taxes, but it proposes a package of strict measures to combat tax evasion, which represents a major economic challenge, as the size of the parallel economy in Algeria is estimated at between 50 and 60 billion dollars.

These procedures include:

Raising fines for tax violations.

Intensifying oversight of commercial and financial transactions.

Tightening measures against money smuggling and laundering.

Imposing new licenses on the trade of gold and precious metals.

Unifying the ceiling for declaring currency when entering or leaving the country.

The economy is in a positive position

Despite the challenges, the Algerian economy recorded positive indicators in 2024, including its ranking among the top three economies in Africa after South Africa and Egypt, supported mainly by oil and gas revenues, which still represent about 90% of the country’s hard currency resources.

The 2026 budget reflects a clear Algerian trend towards large spending to strengthen defense, support citizens, and combat financial corruption and the informal economy, as the government seeks to maintain economic and social stability amid a changing international and regional environment.