Morocco Grapples with Soaring Prices of Essential Goods Amid Global Economic Pressures

Is this increase in the prices of basic products temporary and what could explain it?, wonder Moroccan households looking for answers to this situation that is seriously impacting the household basket. This price increase would be due to the surge in world commodity prices and the prices of products imported from the United States and Europe, according to SNRT News.

To read: Global Cereal Prices Surge 41%, Driving Up Bread Costs in Morocco

The media also mentions the health crisis and the current period of international economic recovery marked by strong demand and weak supply. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the food price index rose by 3% last October, reaching its highest level in ten years. The rise in global prices of vegetable oils and cereals justifies the increase in the FAO food price index, adds the same source.

To read: article 87871

Morocco has taken measures to reduce the impact of this global crisis on the prices of various consumer products, in order to preserve and protect the purchasing power of Moroccan households. The government is following "with great interest" the rise in prices of certain basic products, Nadia Fettah Alaoui, the Minister of Economy and Finance, told the House of Representatives, adding that the prices of subsidized products (flour, sugar and butane gas) will remain stable thanks to the Compensation Fund which will benefit from an allocation of more than 16 billion DH in 2022, an increase of 28% compared to 2021.

To read: Morocco’s Consumer Prices Jump 2.2% in July, Food Costs Lead Inflation Surge

In addition, the government has taken a series of measures to curb the rise in prices. These include the recent suspension of customs duties on imports of soft wheat and durum wheat, as well as the maintenance of the suspension of customs duties on legumes and butter. With all these measures, Morocco is able to control inflation at relatively low levels (1.7%), while it has reached +4.1% in the Euro zone, +6.2% in the United States and 4.2% in the United Kingdom.