(TAP) – A small cabinet meeting was held Wednesday in Dar Dhiafa, Carthage, under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Youssef Chahed, on the preparations for the month of Ramadan, in terms of supply of commodities.

The meeting took note of the indicators relating to the supply of commodity markets during the Holy month, particularly the most consumed products, such as white and red meat, milk and milk products, eggs, vegetables and fruits ... This shows an improvement in domestic production and the buffer stock in most commodities, which will help cover the needs of consumption during this period of rising demand.

On this occasion, the cabinet meeting underlined the importance of getting more control over the coordination between the various parties concerned, recommending that the economic control teams be stepped up to start their activity, starting from this week and until month of Ramadan.

He also called for parallel monitoring of the evolution of market indicators, the transparency of transactions and dealing with speculation.

At the end of the meeting, Trade Minister Omar El Behi, affirmed that "the supply of the market during the month of Ramadan will be normal and in sufficient quantities, in particular for the products of large consumption".

He also said that "stocks of 30 million liters of milk and 46 million eggs have been created and that quantities of red meat will be imported weekly to meet the needs of the market during this month".

Regarding white meat, El Behi assured "that there will be a production of 11 thousand tonnes of poultry per month, throughout the summer season".

Regarding vegetables, the minister stressed that "in addition to the national production, 5 thousand tonnes of potatoes were imported by the Office of Commerce of Tunisia (OCT) and that regulatory stocks will be constituted in June".

For fruits, the minister pointed out that "the summer fruits will be available in sufficient quantities and that a programme has been set up with the GIFruits (Interprofessional Fruit Group) to provide quantities of dates at studied prices. Olive oil quantities will also be provided, at studied prices, in partnership with the National Office of Oil and the Ministry of Agriculture, Water Resources and Fisheries ".

El Behi also said that "economic control campaigns have started from this week and will continue crescendo throughout the month of Ramadan to ensure price compliance."