Morocco inflation falls in September on food prices

RABAT, October 20, 2011 (Reuters)

Inflation in Morocco fell to an annual 0.8 percent in September, led by a sharp slowdown in food prices, official data showed on Thursday.

A surge in food and education costs had pushed the consumer price index to a year-high in August when it hit 2.2 percent.

Compared with their level a year earlier, consumer food prices rose 1.5 percent in September, data from the state’s High Planning Commission (HCP) showed.

Underlying inflation, a gauge used by Morocco’s central bank to set the benchmark interest rate that excludes state tariffs and volatile prices, rose by an annual 1.4 percent in September.