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France to cut prices in Martinique after costs of living unrest

Martinique has been rocked by cost of living protests that have left four people dead in clashes and shops and businesses set alight or looted.

La rédaction de Mediapart

This article is freely available.

After more than six weeks of protests over the high cost of living on the French Caribbean island of Martinique, the local prefecture has signed a deal to cut soaring food prices, reports the BBC.

Jean-Christophe Bouvier, France's prefect in Martinique, said the deal with a number of groups including importers and distributors would mean a 20% average cut in prices for 6,000 key, imported products.

Martinique has been rocked by protests that have left four people dead in clashes and shops and businesses set alight or looted. Authorities in the French territory have extended an overnight curfew to next week.

However, the deal to cut food prices has been rejected by the group behind the protests.

Food costs are about 40% more in Martinique than in mainland France and the Rally for the Protection of Afro-Caribbean Peoples and Resources (RPPRAC) is demanding that prices on the island are no higher than the mainland.

The RPPRAC says the agreement should cover 40,000 products, not just 6,000, and leader Rodrigue Petitot said it should be across the board rather than limited to 54 types of food.

Read more of this report from the BBC.