Rabat – Morocco’s Consumer Price Index (CPI), which tracks the average price of goods and services, continued to increase in March 2022, reflecting the underlying rising prices of consumer goods.
Lingering COVID-19 disruptions coupled with the ongoing war in Ukraine are putting significant pressure on prices in Morocco and elsewhere.
In March, the CPI rose by 1.8% compared to a month before, and by 5.3% year-on-year, according to a report from Morocco’s Higher Commission for Planning (HCP), a state data institution, released on April 22.
The rise in the index is driven by a 3.8% rise in food prices compared to February 2022, up by 9.1% compared to the same period in 2021. As for non-food products, they averaged a 0.5% rise compared to last month, and a 2.8% rise compared to last year, the HCP report indicates.
Core inflation rose by 0.5% over the same month, reaching a yearly average increase of 3.9%, HCP data says.
The underlying rise in food prices was primarily triggered by a 13.8% hike in vegetable prices, a 6.2% rise in fish prices, a 5.2% in fruit, a 3.5% in meat, and a 2.1% in dairy products.
Hydrocarbon prices continued to break records in March increasing by 8% from February.
Regarding healthcare and transit, prices of the former remained largely stable while transit fees rose by 7.6% year on year.
Last year, Morocco’s central bank, Bank Al-Maghrib said that inflation this year could average 4.7% in the light of international developments.
Energy prices have especially skyrocketed in the backdrop of the conflict as markets reacted to the uncertainty of energy security around the world, given that Russia is a major exporter of gas.
Adding to rising energy prices, food prices have equally rallied up due to the rising cost of production stemming from rising fertilizers prices, and rising concerns over food security worldwide.
The war in Ukraine has put significant pressure on the grain market as Russia and Ukraine are global suppliers of wheat.
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