Economics

Algeria's Economic Doomsday Clock Ticks Even Faster After Revolt

  • OPEC member has failed to diversify economy, attract investors
  • Capital Economics sees Algeria reserves depleted in four years

People celebrate after President Abdelaziz Bouteflika informed the Constitutional Council that he is resigning, in Algiers on April 2.

Photographer: Ryad Kramdi/AFP via Getty Images

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Whoever replaces Algeria’s President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, ousted by weeks of protest, will inherit another crisis-in-the-making: the economy.

Even before hundreds of thousands of Algerians began their campaign for political change, the government had only a few years worth of foreign currency reserves left. With the OPEC member heading into uncharted territory after Bouteflika resigned on Tuesday, the clock to financial upheaval is now ticking faster.