Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said Tuesday that the government would introduce youth unemployment benefits as the North African nation struggles with a jobless rate of almost 15 percent.
The payments will be made “to preserve the dignity of young people,” Tebboune said in an interview broadcast on Algerian television.
Algeria will offer its jobless a monthly grant of 13,000 dinars (around $100), a decision aimed at alleviating the economic crisis,d Tebboune told reporters.
The allowance — equivalent to nearly two-thirds the minimum wage of 20,000 dinars ($142) — will begin in March.
It will be accompanied by medical benefits, while some taxes on consumer products will also be suspended, Tebboune said.
Algeria, Africa’s biggest gas exporter with around 45 million people, earns some 90 percent of its state revenues from hydrocarbons.
Tebboune said the youth payments were part of the 2022 budget.
In November, lawmakers voted to scrap generous state subsidies on basic goods that had long helped maintain social peace, but that had strained state budgets as energy revenues fell.
Meanwhile, the Algerian leader also said that an Arab League summit will be held in the fourth quarter of this year, after previously announcing that it would be postponed.
The 31st Arab League Summit was set to be held in March after Tebboune said his country would host it in November. The new date of the meeting will be announced next month.