The attention of political and media circles in Algeria is turning to the parliament session scheduled for next Monday, which is expected to witness a vote on a controversial article within the draft finance law for 2027, allowing the government to review fuel prices. This comes amid fears that any potential increase would represent a new blow to citizens’ purchasing power, which is suffering continuous erosion.
This comes in conjunction with the parliamentary Finance Committee’s rejection of amendments proposed by opposition representatives to the project, which address issues of fiscal and social justice, improving purchasing power, and enhancing the financial performance of public institutions.
“Article 218” of the draft Finance Law for the year 2027, which allows the government to adjust the prices of energy products, is scheduled to be presented to representatives during the plenary session scheduled for the day after tomorrow. In this context, the Finance Committee proposed subjecting any possible increase in prices to Parliament’s approval, while another amendment called for deleting the article permanently, but this proposal was rejected.
At midnight on January 1st, motorists were surprised by the implementation of new fuel prices at filling stations, without a prior official announcement. Less than a year later, the issue of reviewing prices returns to the forefront, this time through the draft Finance Law for 2027, which includes an article stating that “fuel prices may be reviewed, when necessary, by the parties concerned.” However, the text did not specify the identity of these parties, nor the authorities authorized to make the review decision.
On the other hand, the “Finance and Budget Committee” of the “National People’s Assembly” (the lower chamber of Parliament) proposed that any review of fuel prices be subject to the approval of Parliament, with its inclusion in the Finance Law, “in order to devote the principle of transparency and protecting the purchasing power of citizens,” according to what was reported by the Algerian News Agency.
According to the Algerian newspaper “Al-Shorouk”, the committee adhered to this wording after studying five amendments referred to it by the office of the “National People’s Assembly.” The most important of these amendments was setting the ceiling for the increase in fuel prices at 2 percent, and linking it to the price of a barrel of oil, but the owner withdrew it following the clarifications provided by the committee.
Among the most prominent is also the complete abolition of “Article 218”. Although the amendment was rejected by the committee, it will be presented to the representatives for decision during the plenary session.
At the beginning of 2026, fuel prices witnessed an increase, as the price of unleaded gasoline rose from 45.62 dinars to 47 dinars, and diesel from 29.01 dinars to 31 dinars, while the price of liquefied petroleum gas for fuel rose from 9 dinars to 12 dinars. The Fuel Regulatory Authority had taken this decision based on a decree issued in February 2021, without the need to include it in the Finance Law. This precedent reveals that deleting “Article 218” alone does not necessarily mean preventing the government from reviewing fuel prices in the future.
For its part, the government sought to reassure public opinion on this issue, as the Minister in charge of fuel, Mohamed Arkab, confirmed last week before the Finance Committee that there is currently no programmed increase in fuel prices.
For his part, the Minister of Finance, Mohamed Al-Amin Labou, expressed his “surprise” at the “volume of reactions” raised by the issue, stressing that the draft finance law does not include any increase in prices. He explained that the procedure in question is limited to “certain industrial activities,” without providing clarifications regarding the nature of these activities or the areas they include.
The wording of “Article 218” explicitly talks about fuel prices in general, while the explanatory memorandum to the draft law indicates that the prices of gasoline, diesel, and liquefied petroleum gas, designated for fuel, are among the most competitive prices in the world.
On the other hand, the Workers' Party, through its leader Ramadan Taazibt, criticized the rejection of the amendments proposed by his deputy in the National People's Assembly. Taazibet explained, in a post on his social media account, that one of these amendments requires that tax exemptions granted to employers, which include exemption from tax on gross income, tax on corporate profits, and taxes on distributed profits, be subject to a book of conditions that includes clear obligations regarding the provision of jobs and the creation of wealth. He pointed out that this amendment was reserved by the office of the lower chamber of Parliament, which is dominated by the parties of what is known as the “presidential majority.”
Taazibat announced that he would not accept amendments that include raising the guaranteed national minimum wage, indicating also the rejection of other initiatives aimed at strengthening the role of public institutions and companies, which ensure the provision of basic public services. Among the rejected initiatives, according to him, was a proposal to strengthen the role of the “Central Hospital Pharmacy” in providing medicines to public health institutions, in addition to supporting the “Air Algerie” company, with the aim of reducing the prices of flight tickets to and from the Greater South regions.
The leftist leader said: “Not even an amendment that aimed to improve wealth tax revenues was spared rejection, in a country that witnessed a rapid rise in the number of people with great wealth, as the majority of members of the Finance Committee of the National People’s Assembly objected to it,” pointing out that 38 percent of tax revenues outside the fuel sector come from workers’ wages, retirees’ pensions, and value-added tax.
While the candidate for the position of the new US ambassador to Egypt, Nick Oberheiden, expressed his country’s administration’s support for Egyptian rights to the Nile waters, and Washington’s endeavor to cooperate with Cairo in resolving the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam issue, the official spokesman for the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Nader Zaki, told Asharq Al-Awsat, “The position of Egypt and Sudan is firm and declared regarding the rejection of any unilateral measures in this issue.”
During the past hours, a video clip of Oberheiden’s speech was circulated during a hearing before members of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on Wednesday, in which he said that “US President Donald Trump believes in Egypt’s rights to the Nile River.”
Oberheiden stressed that “this file will be one of his priorities during his work in Cairo if his appointment as ambassador is confirmed, and that he will cooperate with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdel Aty and Egyptian Minister of Water Resources Hani Sweilem, in order to resolve this file, which represented a major and decisive challenge for Egypt.”
At the same time, he praised Egypt's role in cooperating with the United States on several issues. The most important of which is the war file in Gaza and establishing stability in Libya and Sudan, explaining that Egypt is “a strategic partner and ally of the United States, and it is also a country with a great history and ancient civilization,” as he put it.
Last June, US President Donald Trump announced the nomination of lawyer Oberheiden to serve as US ambassador to Egypt. According to American media, Oberheiden is one of the most prominent lawyers specializing in federal criminal defense cases, government investigations, and national security within the United States, where he gained wide fame by handling complex legal files that included government officials, major companies, and prominent public figures.
Commenting on Oberheiden’s statements, Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ambassador Nader Zaki told Asharq Al-Awsat, “The United States previously played a role in the Renaissance Dam file, and we reached a reasonable agreement that achieves a measure of everyone’s interests,” adding: “The delegations of Egypt and Sudan went to sign at the White House in February 2020, and Ethiopia did not attend.”
He explained, “The position of Egypt and Sudan is clear and announced, specifically during the recent meeting in Cairo, which included the ministers of foreign affairs and irrigation of the two countries. “There is complete consensus on rejecting any unilateral measures.”
During the current year, US President Donald Trump’s repeated statements about the “Renaissance Dam” raised questions in Egypt about possible mediation efforts in light of the escalating tensions between Cairo and Addis Ababa over this file, but despite the many statements, the issue has not witnessed clear American intervention since the 2020 negotiations in America during Trump’s first term, which ultimately collapsed.
On more than one occasion, Trump said: “Ethiopia built that dam, which is one of the largest dams in the world, and America funded it, of course, which is a very (stupid) thing,” as he described it, stressing that he supports Egypt’s right to the Nile waters, and that he will work on a final solution to the issue, which has not happened so far.
The disputes between Cairo and Addis Ababa over the “Renaissance Dam” continue, as negotiations were frozen in 2024, and last month the matter reached the point of mutual expulsion of diplomats.
Regarding Oberheiden’s statements about Gaza, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman said, “There is a plan called President Trump’s plan, of which only part of its first phase has been implemented.”
He added, "Egypt supports the implementation of the plan and calls for it... (Hamas) showed a response, but we did not find a response from Israel. We look forward to the American government pressing towards completing the first phase and starting the second phase."
Zaki explained, “Egypt confirms its support for implementing the Trump plan in its various stages, consolidating the ceasefire, ensuring the access of humanitarian aid, completing the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, empowering the Palestinian National Committee to manage the Strip, and proceeding with early recovery and reconstruction without displacing the Palestinians.”
He continued: “Egypt also stresses the need for the transitional arrangements to lead to the Palestinian Authority restoring its full responsibilities in the Gaza Strip, preserving the unity of the Palestinian territories, and not conditioning the implementation of the plan on Israeli internal political calculations, leading to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state,” according to Zaki.
The Egyptian expert specializing in African affairs, Dr. Raafat Mahmoud, said, “The files of the Renaissance Dam and the Gaza Strip, although they represent two different areas of American interests, they agree on the importance of Egypt in Washington’s strategic calculations.”
He added in a statement to Asharq Al-Awsat: “With regard to the Renaissance Dam file, the statements do not yet mean a shift in the American position on Ethiopia. His explicit reference to the profound importance of the Nile River to Egypt places water security among the issues that the next American ambassador must deal with in his relationship with Cairo, but in his words there is no indication of reviving the 2020 Washington Agreement, adopting an Egyptian position on the rules of filling and operating, or even imposing American pressure on Ethiopia.
He continued, saying: “Here, Cairo can present the issue to Washington as an issue of regional stability, and not just a bilateral dispute.”
Regarding the Gaza file, Mahmoud said: “I believe that the American message is clearer, and perhaps more influential, as Oberheiden focused on continuing to implement Trump’s comprehensive peace plan in Gaza in cooperation with Egypt, and this has several indications; Among them is that Egypt is a partner in implementing the American vision, and not just a mediator to stop the war, and that Washington wants an Egyptian role in the post-war arrangements.
