§ Lord Kennetasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the statement by the Algerian Council of Ministers to the effect that "foreign debt was eating up 80 per cent of the revenues from (Algeria's) exports" is true and, if so, what effect they anticipate this fact to have on social stability and the prevalence of fundamentalism within Algeria.
§ Baroness Chalker of WallaseyAlgeria's debt service due as a proportion of its exports was estimated to have risen to about 80 per cent. at the end of 1993. Following a Paris Club rescheduling in May 1994 and better than expected export performance, Algeria's debt service ratio for 1994 is now projected to have fallen to 45–50 per cent. It is expected to fall further once Algeria has secured comparable treatment on its commercial bank debt.
Stability in Algerian society is likely to be influenced by the performance of the economy as a whole and by other political factors. The initial reduction in the debt service ratio does not appear to have had any effect on the level of violence involving extremist Islamic groups in Algeria.