IMF forecasts Algerian economic growth at 2.5 pct in 2018

ALGIERS, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- Algeria's economic growth will rise to 2.5 percent in 2018 from 1.4 percent in 2017, an International Monetary Fund (IMF) report said Tuesday.

The IMF previously predicted that Algeria's economic growth will hit three percent in 2018, and 2.7 percent in 2019.

The IMF expected that the North African country will endure a record inflation of 6.5 percent in 2018, instead of 7.4 percent expected in a previous report.

The latest IMF report on the global economic outlook also predicted that the unemployment rate in the oil-rich country will drop to 11.6 percent in 2018 from 11.7 percent in 2017, but is likely to increase to 12.3 percent in 2019.