Morocco’s annual inflation reaches 8% in August

RABAT - Morocco's annual inflation rate soared to 8% in August from 7.7% in July, the High Commission for Planning (HCP) said on Wednesday amid a rise in food prices.

The HCP said that the rise of the consumer price index (CPI) was the result of the 1.5% increase in the index of food products and the decrease of 0.5% in the index of non-food products.

Overall, the index of food products increased by 14.1% and non-food products by 4% in the last 12 months.

“The increases in food products observed between July and August 2022 mainly concern "Fruits" with 9.6%, "Fish and seafood" with 2.2%, "Milk, cheese and eggs" with 1.4% , "Vegetables" and "Coffee, tea and cocoa" with 1.1%, "Meat" with 1%, "Oils and fats" with 0.5% and "Sugars, jams, honey, chocolates and confectionery" with 0.4%,” it said.

“For non-food products, the drop mainly concerned "Fuel" prices with 10.1%,” added the same source.

The HCP also reported that the most significant increases in the CPI were recorded in Beni-Mellal with 1.3%, in Al-hoceima with 1.1%, in Agadir and Safi with 0.9%, in Oujda and Tetouan with 0.8%, in Tangier and Laayoune with 0.6%, in Guelmim with 0.5%, in Meknes with 0.4%, in Fez with 0.3% and in Casablanca with 0.2%.

While most of the central banks across the world raised their interest rates to slow down skyrocketing inflation, Morocco’s Bank Al-Maghrib kept its policy rate unchanged at 1.50%.