MEKNES: Morocco expects a cereal harvest this year of 6.7 million tonnes, including 3.7 million tonnes of soft wheat, down from 9.7 million tonnes in 2013, Agriculture Minister Aziz Akhannouch said.
The minister told Reuters at the annual agricultural fair in Meknes that Morocco will end the suspension of custom duties on soft wheat imports on April 30, as the North African kingdom has imported most of its grain needs.
“I don’t think so,” he said when asked if Morocco will extend the suspension of custom duties after April 30.
Morocco’s harvest last year hit a record high of 9.7 million tonnes including 5.2 million tonnes of soft wheat, thanks to good levels of rainfall.
“It is one of the most important agricultural seasons although rainfall was less than a normal year,” he said.
The rain was too late this year but the national harvest matched government expectation of keeping GDP growth in 2014 at 4.2 per cent.
However, the state planning agency has said it expects growth to slow to 2.5 per cent, citing the international environment and a drop in agricultural output.
Economy
Morocco’s economy slowed sharply to 2.5 per cent in the first quarter from a year earlier, and is likely to ease slightly again this quarter as agricultural output shrinks, the agency said last week.
Agricultural output, which accounts for about 15 per cent of Morocco’s gross domestic product, fell 3.4 per cent in the first three months of 2014 and is expected to drop 3.9 per cent in the second quarter, the agency added.
Morocco, like other North African countries, depends on the import of staple cereals. It is expected to buy around 2.5 million tonnes of foreign wheat in the 2013/14 marketing year, traders said.
The country’s import campaign typically runs from October to May when the local harvest starts.
But this season, shipments did not get under way until January, when the government has introduced a subsidy system to boost soft wheat imports to counter rising world prices from Jan. 1 to April 30.
It has also suspended the custom duties for the same period and the same reason.
