Morocco’s Government Vows to Tackle Price Increases Ahead of Ramadan

Rabat – The Moroccan government is vowing to tackle the continuous increase in food prices ahead of the holy month of Ramadan. Minister of Economy Nadia Fettah Alaoui commented on the issue of price increases in a meeting at the House of Councilors.

During the parliamentary session, the minister vowed there would be a gradual decrease in food prices as part of the measures announced to tackle the situation.

Food prices, including tomatoes and fuel, have been soaring for the past months, causing frustration among citizens.

The Moroccan minister acknowledged the presence of violations of pricing regulations.

“The commission in charge of prices inspected 17,000 points of sale last January and found 900 violations,” she said.

She added that 21,000 price control operations were carried out last year, covering 300,000 points of sale.
The inspection managed to enable authorities to seize 1,100 tonnes of damaged products.

In response to market supply, the minister said that an inter-ministerial commission is looking into the preparation of the “best conditions of the month of Ramadan,” which is experiencing challenges in terms of prices and market supply.

“The government is aware of the need to ensure the supply of basic food products,” Alaoui said, stressing that indicators confirm that the markets are supplied on a normal basis.

She vowed that various proactive measures are put in place to guarantee the supply of the markets with sufficient quantities of basic products.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Interior held a meeting with representatives of various departments to discuss the situation of market supply ahead of the month of Ramadan.

Participants in the meeting stressed that all measures have been taken to “strengthen the supply and stocks of basic products.”

The participants at the meeting also stressed that measures have been taken by public authorities with the aim of “preserving the purchasing power of citizens” to limit price increases for certain products.

Source: Morocco World News