The minister has assured that all the goods are available. “We have decided with the Ministry of the Interior to follow the situation very closely and asked the operators to inform us on an ongoing basis. We will react when there is speculation,” said Moulay Hafid Elalamy in a statement to the press after a meeting held at the headquarters of the General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises (CGEM) with professionals in the distribution sector on the impact of Coronavirus.
This is not the time to speculate on prices, he argued, adding that “it is not necessary to stock since all products are available in sufficient quantities”. In addition, Mr Elalamy noted that the rate of consumer purchases has fallen by 40% compared to the last few days. “We are on the right track. Consumers are aware that the product offer is more than sufficient and covers for some retailers up to 6 and 8 months,” he added, noting that the shelves of supermarkets and hypermarkets may be empty for a few minutes due to heavy traffic, but these retailers quickly supply new quantities.
“We are confident that the market is being supplied. However, monitoring is necessary to preserve this situation,” the minister said. For his part, the president of the CGEM, Chakib Alj, said that this meeting with distributors, large and medium-sized retailers and various stakeholders in the logistics sector was an opportunity to make an update on the situation of the country’s supply of products. He noted that the stocks are sufficient for the coming months, specifying that the distribution remains under control.
“We reviewed the current situation by discussing three major points. The first is to ensure a level of shelf traffic to meet this exceptional demand. The second is to put in place the necessary accompanying measures through a public-private partnership, while the third concerns a set of proposed measures to anticipate the needs of the holy month of Ramadan,” said, for his part, the president of the federation Tijara 2020, Wajih Sbihi. On this last point, “we have provided Elalamy and Alj with a road-map of 11 recommendations that we have reviewed starting next week to see which ones have a level of applicability in the short, medium and long term with all partners,” he continued.
“The strong message that we have gathered today on the operators of basic necessities is that stock levels are extremely high,” Sbihi stressed, adding that for some operators this level is 5 to 8 months of consumption. Stocks are thus at comfortable levels to get through this particular period, he concluded.
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