Algeria launches local bond issue to offset energy earnings drop

By Hamid Ould Ahmed ALGIERS (Reuters) - Algeria's first local bond issue in years was opened on Sunday with the government hoping to secure new financing sources after a sharp drop in world oil prices has cut energy earnings that make up 60 percent of its budget. Algeria's government has already started to cut back some state-subsidised energy services, reduced its 2015 and 2016 public spending and frozen some infrastructure projects. The bond issue, with a maturity of 3 to 5 years, will carry a