The upturn continues for the main currencies listed on the informal market in Port-Saïd Square in Algiers, reputed to be the hub of parallel exchange transactions.

Since the government's announcement of its gradual deconfinement plan, giving priority to certain activities strongly affected by the coronavirus pandemic, including travel and tourism agencies, forex traders have been rubbing their hands, seeing hope for a recovery of the foreign exchange market, reduced to its simplest expression since the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic across the world. The two main currencies, the euro and the dollar in this case, continued to progress in a market which seems to be reborn from its ashes under the effect of the hope aroused by the deconfinement announced for a number of activities. One euro was worth 195 dinars yesterday on the informal market, while one dollar was quoted at 174 dinars. The quotation of the two currencies seems to have been supported by the announcement of the government's gradual deconfinement plan, which gave pride of place to tourism and travel agencies, which, it should be emphasized, represent one of the main foreign currency applicants in the world. informal market. "Some officials of these travel agencies have resumed contact with currency traders in anticipation of the opening of borders to Tunisia from July," explains one of them in Port-Saïd Square. He underlined that the demand recovered slightly even if, overall, the hoarding in foreign currencies “had the merit of preserving a minimum of activity on the market”. The supply, however, was lacking during the long months of confinement because, in a context of falling prices, traders lowered the curtain for fear of selling at a loss. If the hope of a reopening of the borders to Tunisia were to be confirmed in the coming days, traders expect demand to regain strength. This could also rebound with the prospect of a possible resumption of air traffic from July, given that airlines and Schengen States have already announced their intention to free up the sector. travel and air transport from next July. It is a vulnerable hope! Because, recently, optimism has given way to concern about a second wave of the pandemic, especially since the number of Covid-19 contaminations has started to rise again in many European states, Maghrebians and Asians. Moreover, the value of the dollar on the parallel market fell from 176 to 174 dinars in just one week, while the value of the single European currency fell back below 200 dinars, i.e. 195 dinars. , early last week. Thus, the hope of a deconfinement which would be inevitable for socio-economic reasons, and which helped the spectacular rebound of the currencies last week, remains very fragile so far. In this story, it is the national currency that risks being abused again on the informal market, while on the official market, the desire for devaluation was felt several weeks ago. The dollar just goes on the umpteenth week of rise against the dinar on the interbank foreign exchange market, climbing to 129.194 dinars for one dollar. Never seen ! For its part, the value of the euro was set by the Central Bank at 144.892 dinars over the period from June 19 to 23. For several weeks now, the main settlement currencies, the euro and the dollar, have been increasing their prices on the official market, against a losing dinar in a context marked by the decline in all the fundamentals. economy. Many economists unreservedly believe that the devaluation of the national currency is inevitable to deal with the external shock facing the country's economy.