Rabat - Government Spokesperson Mustapha El Khalfi recognized on Thursday that the cabinet needs to tackle the issue of gasoline prices, which have been heavily criticized since the launch of the major boycott against the exorbitant prices of products on April 20.
Rabat – Government Spokesperson Mustapha El Khalfi recognized on Thursday that the cabinet needs to tackle the issue of gasoline prices, which have been heavily criticized since the launch of the major boycott against the exorbitant prices of products on April 20.
El Khalfi said following Thursday’s government council that the cabinet “is aware of the problem of hydrocarbon prices and the need to find practical solutions to this issue.”
El Khalfi also promised that the government has been following the issue and studying possibilities to solve it.
The minister asserted that the issue was discussed at the level of the government majority and “everyone is convinced of the need to provide practical answers.”
Moroccan citizens supporting the boycott have heavily criticized gasoline prices, especially those of Afriquia gas, owned by Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Aziz Akhannouch.
Moroccans raised their eyebrows when a leaked confidential parliamentary report about fuel distribution in Morocco showed the revenue generated by fuel companies.
The President of the parliamentary group of the Justice and Development Party (PJD), Abdellah Bouanou, claimed that the difference between the government’s set prices and today’s prices is nearly MAD 1 per liter. He added, “The Moroccan market annually consumes some 6.5 million tons [of fuel]. So, we easily reach 7 billion dirhams in one year of additional profit.”
He said that some companies expanded their revenue since the liberalization of fuel pricing.
“Their profits went from 300 million dirhams to 900 million dirhams between 2015 and 2016 thanks to the liberalization of fuel prices.”
El Khalfi comments on boycott
El Khalfi said that the government is working to protect and support the purchasing power of Moroccans, including farmers and small farmers.
On May 10, El Khalfi denounced the boycott campaign in a press briefing after the government council. El Khalfi defended the boycotted company of Centrale Danone, emphasizing that the company’s prices are “reasonable” and their profit margin “does not exceed 20 centimes [per liter].”
El Khalfi then said that online activists are “circulating false information.”
“Spreading false allegations is an illegal practice that does not fall under the freedom of expression,” he added.
