The Central Bank of Algeria has introduced three import control measures within two months.

According to a report by Algerian media TSA on May 27, 2026, the Central Bank of Algeria has successively issued two directives and one notice in the past two months to further strengthen the supervision of import trade, focusing on the import business of "reselling as is".

 The new regulations mainly include three aspects: First, banks must review the financial strength of enterprises before handling import business and limit the bank commitment quota of importers within their own capital. Second, all imported goods for resale must be registered with the bank (domiciliation bancaire) before shipment. Third, commercial banks need to establish more stringent risk management and internal monitoring mechanisms to ensure that import business complies with prudential supervision requirements.

 In addition, the Central Bank of Algeria also stipulates that the total international business commitment of each bank shall not exceed 50% of its own capital to reduce the risks of foreign trade and international market fluctuations.

 Algerian economist Brahim Ghendouzi said that the main purpose of the relevant measures is to protect foreign exchange reserves, reduce pure trade - type imports, and encourage more capital to be invested in local production and import substitution industries. 

However, the new regulations may put greater pressure on small and medium - sized import enterprises. Due to insufficient capital strength, the competitiveness of some small and medium - sized enterprises may decline, and they may even be excluded from the import business. 

Against the background that the current global supply chain is still affected by factors such as the situation in the Middle East, Algeria's economy still highly depends on the import of consumer goods, industrial raw materials, and medicines. If the supervision continues to tighten, it may bring certain risks to the stability of market supply in the future. (Source: Economic and Commercial Office of the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria)