Before you believe a "new instruction" going round on WhatsApp or Facebook, check it’s on Banque d’Algérie’s official website. Fake texts do circulate. In August 2026, Banque d’Algérie denied an "Instruction 08-2026" on the travel allowance that it had never issued.
Real or fake? Five checks
- Look for the text on Banque d’Algérie’s website
- Check the number and the date
- Check what it replaces
- Wait for a serious outlet to report it
- If in doubt, ask your bank branch
What happened
On 13 August 2026, an “Instruction no. 08-2026 of 12 August 2026” on the travel allowance was spreading on social media. Banque d’Algérie formally denied it and said it had issued no instruction with that number on that date. The text in force was still Instruction 07-2026Instruction 07-2026 du 13 juillet 2026 relative au droit de change pour voyage à l'étranger par carte de paiement internationale of 13 July 2026 (guide 19).
A convincing fake can cost you: a trip booked on the wrong dates, an allowance you have to pay back, or a “service” you paid a middleman for.
Check in five steps
- Look for the text on Banque d’Algérie’s website. It should be on bank-of-algeria.dz, in the regulations section. If it isn’t there, treat it as suspect.
- Check the number and the date. Instructions are numbered in order through the year (07-2026, then 08-2026, and so on). A number that doesn’t fit the date, or that already belongs to a text on another subject, is a warning sign.
- Check what it replaces. When an instruction replaces another one, it repeals it by name, with its number and date. Instruction 07-2026Instruction 07-2026 du 13 juillet 2026 relative au droit de change pour voyage à l'étranger par carte de paiement internationale, for example, repeals 05-2025 in its article 21.
- Wait for a serious outlet to report it. A real instruction is quickly picked up by the APS news agency and the business press (Algérie Eco, TSA). A screenshot on its own proves nothing.
- If in doubt, ask your bank branch. Banks apply these texts and know which one is in force.
On sahla, every guide cites its sources with the date we read them, and shows the date it was last updated at the top.
Key points
- If it isn’t on Banque d’Algérie’s website, it isn’t a real text.
- The number, the date and the text it repeals must all match.
- A shared screenshot isn’t a source.
Sources
- Banque d’Algérie’s denial of the fake Instruction 08-2026, as reported by Algérie Zoom, 13 August 2026 and DNAlgérie, 14 August 2026, read on 21 October 2026.
- Instruction 07-2026 of 13 July 2026, Banque d’Algérie: art. 21, repeal of Instruction 05-2025, p. 4, original text read on 19 October 2026.