Algeria introduces youth unemployment benefits

Algeria will offer youth unemployment benefits starting next month, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune announced on Tuesday.

People without jobs who are aged between 19-40 will receive 13,000 dinars ($92) a  month, which is equivalent to two-thirds of the minimum wage. They will also be eligible for medical benefits and tax breaks on some consumer products.

Tebboune said payments will be made “to preserve the dignity of young people”.

The move, he continued, is the first such step taken by any country outside of Europe.

Some 15 per cent of Algerians are unemployed. They make up 600,000 people in the gas rich state.

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