Drought-hit Algeria, one of the world's largest grain importers, holds enough wheat to cover its needs for the coming months, Prime Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem said.
"Algeria has sufficient stocks that will cover its needs during the whole agricultural season," he said late on Saturday at an economic forum broadcast by state television. "We have bought enough quantities during the June-October period when prices were lower. Prices are now very high on the international markets."
Belkhadem did not define what he meant by the agricultural season but Algerians normally interpret the phrase to mean the period until the next harvest, which starts in June 2007.
"Algeria will not be hit by famine," said Belkhadem, who was flanked by Agriculture Minister Said Barkat. Algeria has been hit by drought in recent months, which has raised fears of a possible decline in cereal output and rise in the import bill.
In Algeria, the growing cycle of cereals requires two spells of rain, during sowing in November and December and in March and April as crops mature.
Officials at the agriculture ministry have said the country's cereal harvest stood at 4.0 million tonnes in the 2005-06 season versus 3.5 million in 2004-05. It imported 5.02 million tonnes of cereals in 2005 against 5.18 million in 2004, the ministry has said. The government spends around $1 billion to fill shortfalls in production.
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