Algeria : Government agricultural subsidies don’t hamper adhesion to WTO, says agriculture Minister
الشروق أونلاين
-
-
1376
-
0
The Algerian agriculture Minister Said Barkat told Echorouk newspaper Forum that the current agricultural subsidies provided by the government to this vital sector of activity are not a hurdle to Algeria ’s projected adhesion to the World Trade Organization (WTO).
The Algerian agriculture Minister Said Barkat told Echorouk newspaper Forum that the current agricultural subsidies provided by the government to this vital sector of activity are not a hurdle to Algeria ’s projected adhesion to the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Said Barkat explained that the subsidy rate should not exceed 10% as recommended by the WTO stressing that the financial package earmarked by the Algerian government for the agriculture sector was chiefly destined to rehabilitating arable lands, promoting scientific research and harnessing water sources for regular land irrigation.
“The ambitious support program worked out by the Algerian government to shore up the national agriculture sector amounts to 40 billion dinars annually,” he pointed out.
The agriculture Minister further underlined that the Algerian authorities were intent on waging a “cleansing campaign” in the sector of agriculture in order to stave off any future malpractice by certain money-grabbing farmers or producers who don’t serve agriculture as such.
Said Barkat also called for a greater involvement of the public and private banks through the granting of fresh credits and other financial incentives to the benefit of bona-fide farmers so as to give a solid boost to the sector by ultimately achieving national self-sufficiency in terms of agricultural production.
