A Council of Government was held on Thursday, under the chairmanship of the Head of Government, Aziz Akhannouch. At the start of the Council’s work, the Chief Executive spoke on the holy month of Ramadan, inviting the ministers to urge their various departments affiliated with them to strengthen surveillance of the national market and ensure its continuous supply of food products and fight against speculation, with the aim of protecting the basket of Moroccan families.
“As you well know, the Royal instructions insist on the need to protect the purchasing power of the citizen, and to guarantee the supply of the markets with the necessary food products. Today, as a government, we are obliged to increase our mobilization and our vigilance, by increasing the monitoring of the supply situation of the Kingdom’s markets in food products, and strengthening the level of control in terms of quality and monitoring of marketing, while punishing violations or opportunistic behaviors”, confided the head of government, Aziz Akhannouch, during the CG of this Thursday, February 9.
Also, the Chief Executive took advantage of this Council to invite the ministers to carry out field visits, in order to determine the market supply conditions and their follow-up in a
staff.
“The repercussions of the current context permeated by several international and climatic challenges, and the protection of citizens from their impacts, oblige us to carefully and closely monitor the various production and marketing chains, in particular through the mobilization of control committees. at the level of the regions and provinces, under the supervision of the Walis and governors“said Akhannouch.
In the same vein, the Head of Government wanted to reassure national public opinion concerning the production of vegetables for this year, in particular tomatoes, which are at a very good level, noting also the increase in price of tomatoes in recent days which is mainly linked, according to him, to the cold snap that our country is experiencing.
“Tomato prices are expected to fall from the next few weeks, with a return to normal temperatures, which will contribute to the maturation of national production and its abundant presence on the markets.“, he said.
Also, Akhannouch pointed out that the readiness to produce new cycles of onions and potatoes will help improve their availability in the market to meet consumption needs, which will be reflected in their prices, he said. .
With regard to red meat, the prices of which have risen sharply, the head of government indicated that a drop in prices is expected, thanks to the measures taken by the government, namely the abolition of the value added tax (VAT ), the cessation of the collection of customs duties on the importation of cows intended for slaughter.
Measures which will allow professionals, according to Akhannouch, to import around 30,000 heads of cows intended for slaughter, before the advent of the holy month of Ramadan, which will help to ease the pressure on the herd of cows and reduce retail meat prices.
Finally, Aziz Akhannouch invited, in particular, the Joint Commission of the Ministries of the Interior, Agriculture, Industry and Finance, to ensure the daily monitoring of the markets, and to take all the necessary measures to respond to the national demand needs.
“Overall, the actions taken by the government to ensure market supplies and its continued support for transport prices should contribute to the stability of food product prices in the weeks to come. Also, the rainfall and the last snowfalls experienced by certain regions of the Kingdom, and those expected in the coming days will contribute to the improvement of vegetation, and the return of national production to normal levels.“concluded the Chief Executive.