Mozambique's government is reversing bread and water price increases that sparked riots in which 13 people died.
Protests were held last week in the capital, Maputo, over increases in the costs of bread, water and electricity.
Planning minister Aiuba Cuereneia told reporters after a cabinet meeting today that the 20 per cent increase in the government-set price of bread that went into effect yesterday would be reversed. The reverses are immediate, he said.
He said an increase in the price of water also would be reversed, but that higher electricity tariffs were being maintained.
The government also was reducing the cost of a 25kg bag of rice by 7.8 per cent.
"These are measures we are taking to reduce the cost of living in Mozambique," the minister said. He referred to the protests only to condemn the violence.
The government was cutting back elsewhere to compensate. Mr Cuereneia said the government was suspending stipends for those chairing the boards of public companies and increasing some customs duties.
The Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said in a statement today its experts did not believe the world was headed toward a food crisis like the one in 2008, when high prices sparked political instability in Mozambique, Haiti and elsewhere.
It said this year's cereal harvest worldwide was the third highest on record and food stocks are high. Other conditions, such as soaring fuel prices, that were blamed for the 2007-2008 food crisis aren't present now, officials say.
The organisation nonetheless cautioned that food commodities markets will remain more volatile in coming years. It suggested improving the markets' regulation and establishing an "appropriate level" of emergency food stocks, while assuring fluid global trade in food.
This year, a drought in Russia has prompted the country to restrict wheat exports, helping drive up global food costs.
Mozambique's government has said that keeping food prices low is difficult because so much of the country's food has to be imported. The southeastern African nation grows only 30 per cent of the wheat it needs.
Energy minister Salvador Namburete has said yesterday that the recent increase in the price of electricity was necessary to cover the cost of electrifying rural areas and constructing a new power line in the country's northwest.
The worst of the rioting was last Wednesday and Thursday. Though it died down after that, the government had struggled to stamp out unrest and protests had flared outside Maputo.
AP