PHOTO
Vendors sell fruits and vegetables at a market in Rabat January 15, 2013. The alleys of Rabat's old city resound with the shouts of street vendors advertising Chinese consumer goods such as fabrics and electronic gadgets. But the area's vegetable sellers, from whom many residents buy dinner on the way home, are unusually quiet. Morocco's cash-strapped government is preparing to launch its biggest economic policy change in years: root-and-branch reform of the system of food and energy subsidies which it uses to keep down the living costs of millions of people. Picture taken January 15, 2013. To match Story MOROCCO-SUBSIDIES/REFORM REUTERS/Stringer (MOROCCO - Tags: BUSINESS FOOD POLITICS)
RABAT - The Moroccan government said on Thursday it adopted a decree cancelling the value-added tax on agricultural inputs to help lower prices of fresh produce and other agrifoods.
Food inflation jumped to 20.1% in February, bringing general inflation to 10.1%, a level unmatched since the 1980s.
The measure is in line with efforts to "stem the sources of inflation and higher prices both for farm produce and for agrifood products," Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch said in a statement after the cabinet’s weekly meeting.
Morocco has been importing beef cattle from Brazil after it lifted import duty to reduce meat prices.
The country has also restricted tomato exports to Africa and Europe to ensure supply of the domestic market.
(Reporting by Ahmed Eljechtimi in Rabat Editing by Matthew Lewis)
