Algerian trade minister: The government will not be tender with reluctant operators
In a lengthy intervention with at “ Echourok†newspaper , the trade minister Mustapha Ben Badda has indicated that the revision of the prices of sugar and oil respectively to 90 AD per kilogram and 600 AD per five liters will cost the public treasury 3 billion Algerian Dinars.
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This staggering budget will be dedicated to compensate the wholesalers and distributors for the quantities made available on the market, but he asserted that the government will severely reprimand the least breach of provisions agreed upon the different parties regardless of the influence of the operator, especially that the Board of Executives has definitely decided to put an end to a certain hegemony that put at stake the Algerians’ food security.
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The minister has noted that the sugar and oil prices will register another decrease by the third week of February as a direct consequence of the measures issued by the government towards the economic operators starting with the freezing of the customs taxes including the VAT and the tax on the companies’ profits (IBS) operating in the sector.
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The gross total of tax reductions, including the quantities currently under clearing and those due to arrive on the ports from abroad, is estimated at 41% impacting, thus on the prices at the level of the consumers.
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As to the probability of breaching the agreement by one of the operators thorough resorting to reduce the prices of sugar and oil to guarantee the monopoly on the market and get rid of his competitors, the minister made clear that the terms of the contract so are the profit margins and any infringement to the deal will cost its initiator the loss of the government’s assistance.
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The minister has noted that the government will soon decide on the creation of National Trade Office, adding that this institution will definitely regulate the prices and the government’s intervention.