The Government announced the temporarily removal of the Maximum Retail Price (MRP) on imported and local rice set last February (FPMA Food Policies). The measure follows cuts on import taxes earlier in the month (FPMA Food Policies) to boost imports and ease domestic prices, which in August averaged nearly 20 percent higher than a year earlier. The high level of prices mainly reflects anticipation of a significant decline in the 2017 aggregate rice output, due to a severe drought in late 2016 and early 2017. The maximum retail price on packed wheat flour has also been removed.