1970: Creation of a General Compensation Fund (Caisse Générale de Compensation – CGC) [Finance Act No. 65-1970 of 31 December 1970]

Based on the Organic Law of the 1967 Budget which provides for the possibility of creating special Treasury Funds to finance operations of a particular character, and to mobilise adequate financial resources, Law No. 26 of 29 May 1970 created the General Compensation Fund, confirmed by the Finance Act no. 65-1970 of 31 December 1970. This fund was opened within the Ministry of National Economy with an initial budget of 7 million Dinars. Responsibility of the CGC was then passed to the Ministry of Commerce. In its early years, the CGC was a multi-objective instrument thought to improve the competitiveness of the national economy, to maintain the purchasing power of the population, and to ensure adequate nutrition for all. CGC subsidies were for such diverse products as bread, milk, sugar, meat, soybean meal, rapeseed oil, double tomato concentrate, maize, schoolbooks, cultural books, milk collection, potato seeds, fertilisers, cement, etc. (Makhlouf 2017).