RABAT, March 2 (Reuters) – Morocco will import between 1 million and 1.1 million tonnes of soft wheat during the March-May period of this year after the government decided to suspend import duties on the commodity for two months, the finance ministry said on Friday.
Finance and Economy Minister Nizar Baraka told a parliamentary committee that 125,000 tonnes of locally-produced soft wheat from last year’s harvest remains to be collected by end-May, a statement posted on the ministry’s website said.
The North African country is bracing for a drop in this year’s cereals harvest, as well as other crops, after a shortage in rainfalls and a prolonged cold spell hurt farming, the head of the agriculture industry said earlier on Friday.
(Reporting By Souhail Karam; editing by Keiron Henderson)
