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However Fez has remained quiet although there is widespread discontent over the rise in prices over the last few weeks and highlighted by the Moroccan Association of Human Rights calling for a public reaction. Security services had to intervene to stop angry demonstrators who damaged several educational, administrative and commercial institutions and set fire to private property.
On Tuesday Rabat was the centre of the protests with more than two hundred people staging a sit in to protest against the latest price hikes and the deterioration in public services. The demonstration called for the immediate cancellation of this price increase in basic products as well as in water, electricity and health bills.
Government Reaction
According to Maghreb Arabe Presse the Interior Minister, Chakib Benmoussa, held a meeting with several Moroccan ministers and officials to consider ways to deal with the price hikes that are causing so much unrest. The first response was the lowering of import duties on milk and wheat, suspending taxes and duties on the wholesale market, which it is believed could reduce the price of vegetables by 7%. The price of wheat will be subsidised, a measure that will cost the state some USD37.4Mn per month.
Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news