Inflation: Consumer prices in Morocco continue to rise in March

Continued disruptions in Covid-19 associated with the ongoing war in Ukraine are putting continued pressure on prices in Morocco and elsewhere. Morocco’s CPI, which is related to the average price of goods and services, continued to rise in March 2022, reflecting the underlying increase in prices of consumer goods.

The consumer price index rose 1.8 percent in March 2022 from the previous month, according to the Haut-Commissariat au Plan (HCP). This difference is the result of a 3.8% increase in the food index and a 0.5% increase in the non-food index, explains the HCP in an information note on the CPI for March 2022.
The increases in food products observed between February and March 2022 mainly concern “vegetables” by 13.8%, “fish and seafood” by 6.2%, “fruit” by 5.2%, “meat” by 3.5%, and “milk, cheese and eggs” by 2.1%, “bread and cereals” by 1.9%, and “oils and fats” by 1.2%, said the HCP, noting on the other hand that the prices of “mineral waters, soft drinks, fruits and vegetables” have declined by 0.2%. For non-food products, the increase mainly concerns the prices of “fuels” of 8.0%.

Compared to the same month of the previous year, the consumer price index recorded an increase of 5.3% during the month of March 2022, due in particular to the increase in the index of food products of 9.1% and that of non-food products of 2.8%, stresses the HCP, noting that for non-food products, the variations range from a stagnation for “health” and “communication” to an increase of 7.6% for “transport”.

As a result, the core inflation index, which excludes volatile-priced goods and goods with public tariffs, would have risen 0.5 percent in March 2022 from February 2022 and 3.9 percent from March 2021, the note concluded.

Energy prices have particularly soared in the context of the ongoing war, as global markets face energy security uncertainty, given that Russia is a major gas exporter.

In addition to rising energy prices, food prices have also risen due to increased production costs resulting from higher fertilizer prices and growing concerns about global food security. The conflict has put invaluable pressure on the grain market as Russia and Ukraine are global suppliers of wheat.