Tebboune Enacts Measures to Control Prices, Curb Market Speculation
President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has enacted a comprehensive set of urgent measures aimed at safeguarding citizens' purchasing power and curbing inflation. These decisions, made during a recent Council of Ministers meeting, demonstrate a firm commitment to economic stability through a global and complementary strategy designed to address market challenges and prevent social tensions. The approach mobilizes all available means, integrating anticipation, field work, and robust data management for effective state intervention.
Among the key initiatives, President Tebboune has mandated the immediate drafting of a strict legal text to regulate the activities of intermediaries operating between producers and consumers. This measure seeks to streamline distribution channels and control prices and profit margins. Additionally, an immediate investigation has been ordered into certain meat importers suspected of monopolizing supplies and contributing to price increases, including the practice of selling imported meat at local market prices and examining price disparities across regions.
Further measures include empowering the Minister of Interior, in coordination with regional governors (walis), to establish a mechanism for purchasing and storing local agricultural surpluses. These reserves will then be injected into the market at the first sign of price fluctuations to maintain purchasing power. The Ministry of Interior Commerce is tasked with developing a system for setting price caps and determining profit margins for essential goods such as vegetables, legumes, pasta, and meats, taking into account all stages of production and marketing.
The strategy also strengthens market oversight through a decentralized system that allows commerce directors, under the supervision of walis, to conduct daily local monitoring of widely consumed product prices. Price control brigades under the Ministry of Interior Commerce will be reinforced, ensuring daily field inspections throughout the year. To enhance efficiency, efforts will be coordinated between the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Interior Commerce, and the High Commission for Digitization to create a digital database for rapid and effective price monitoring, functioning as an early warning mechanism for timely market intervention. These decisive steps have been welcomed by national associations and economic experts, who recognize their potential to stabilize prices, address consumer concerns, and curb illicit market practices.
