CAIRO, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Egypt, the world's top wheat importer, will buy wheat from local farmers in next year's harvest at the same price it paid this year, the cabinet spokesman said on Sunday.

Hossam al-Qawish said the government would pay farmers 420 Egyptian pounds (about $60) per ardeb, equivalent to about 150 kilogrammes.

The local price exceeds the price Egypt pays in the international market by more than $100 per tonne. In recent years the government has steadily raised this price, as it aims to encourage farmers to sell to the state instead of to private traders.

($1 = 7.1500 Egyptian pound) (Reporting By Maggie Fick and Shadi Bushra, editing by John Stonestreet)