Rabat – A new report from Morocco’s leading statistics institution, the High Commission for Planning (HCP), has established that vegetable prices dropped by 10.6% between April and May of this year.
According to the HCP, the falls in food prices observed between the past two months mainly concerned vegetables with 10.6%, fish and seafood with 4.4%, milk, cheese, and eggs with 1%, and oils and fats with 0.7%.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) fell by 0.4% at the end of May, compared with the previous month.
According to the May CPI, this trend is the outcome of a 0.9% fall in the food index and a 0.1% fall in the non-food index.
The CPI further detailed that prices for non-food products fell between April and May 2023 and mainly concerned fuels and lubricants with 2.5%, clothing and footwear with 0.3%, and telephone and fax equipment with 1%.
The HCP added the consumer price index rose by 5.6% over the past year, noting that this variation was the result of a 13.2% increase in the food index and a 1.1% in the non-food index.
Nationwide, the CPI fell by 0.4% month-on-month and rose by 7.1% on the year-on-year basis.
As for variations by city, CPI trends were uneven, ranging from a 1.9% fall in northern Morocco Al Hoceima to a 0.3% rise southward in Meknes.
Early in April, the Moroccan government’s spokesperson Mustapha Baitas had said in a press conference that Morocco was prepared to implement more measures to address the spike in prices the country had seen.
“The government is ready to deal with the soaring prices,” Baitas stated.
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He reaffirmed the government’s commitment to keeping food costs within acceptable ranges and its willingness to adopt new measures if necessary.
Right before the start of the holy month of Ramadan, Baitas stressed that the government’s intervention to redress the issue will not be restricted to just market regulation.
“The government is also involved in increasing production and supporting producers to supply the market, especially for foods that are in high demand during the month of Ramada,” Baitas explained.
In spite of the government’s promises, prices increased throughout Ramadan. For instance, the cost of a kilogram of green pepper increased from MAD 6 to MAD 20, whereas the cost of a kilogram of potatoes cost between MAD 18-20 and onions were at MAD 14.
