By John Ikani
President of Algeria, Abdelmadjid Tebboune announced on Tuesday that his Government would introduce monthly youth unemployment benefits as the North African nation struggles with a jobless rate of almost 15 percent.
Disclosing this during an interview broadcast on Algerian television, Tebboune said the payments to jobseekers aged 19 to 40 would begin in March.
According to him, those who are eligible will be able to collect the payments of about a $100 (£73) a month, as well as some medical benefits, until they find work.
He went on to note that Algeria was the first country outside Europe to introduce such a benefit.
Algeria, Africa’s biggest gas exporter with around 45 million people, earns some 90 percent of its state revenues from hydrocarbons.
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.
