Algeria’s foreign exchange reserves have dropped by $35 billion to $143 billion at December 31, 2015, according to data revealed on March 14 in Algiers by advisor to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Middle East and Central Asia department, Jean-François Dauphin.

“Though the foreign reserves remain at a high level, they decreased by $35 billion in 2015 to $143 billion compared to a maximum of $194 billion in 2013,” said Dauphin who led an IMF delegation in Algiers from March 1 to March 14.

The drop in reserves is due to widening of balance of payments deficit impacted by falling prices of oil that represent 95% of Algeria’s external revenues and 60% of State budget.

Government of Algeria, end-2015, estimated that the country’s foreign reserves should once again fall by $30 billion in 2016.