Informal Bakeries in Morocco Accused of Misusing Subsidized Flour for Profit

"The competent services of the Ministry of the Interior would have received information that informal bakeries divert and exploit subsidized flour, the price of which does not exceed two dirhams per kilogram, to produce bread that they sell for less than two dirhams per unit," reports Assabah.

This practice allows these informal bakers to increase their profits during this sacred month, explains the daily, specifying that the latter supply themselves from a network of intermediaries. The competent authorities "have managed to seize large quantities of subsidized flour stored in clandestine warehouses in certain popular neighborhoods of Casablanca," the same source informs, adding that investigations would have been opened after the location of the informal bakeries in certain areas of Casablanca, Salé and Meknes.

"No less than seven billion dirhams were allocated in 2023 to subsidize soft wheat intended for underprivileged social groups to maintain the price of the kilogram at two dirhams and preserve the purchasing power," it is recalled, specifying that this subsidy concerns 6.5 million quintals, to which are added two dirhams per quintal for storage, granted to the operators of the sector.