2023-04-20 20:56:47
The annual inflation rate in Morocco had accelerated to 8.2% last March, compared to the same month of the previous year, said Thursday in a statement the High Commission for Planning (HCP) estimating that the increase of inflation is due to the rise in the prices of food products by 16.1% and non-food products by 3%.
On a monthly basis, the inflation rate increased by 0.1% in the past month, compared to the previous month, the HCP said.
Morocco was negatively affected by the consequences of the Russian-Ukrainian war, just like the rest of the world’s economies, as the prices of basic food and energy commodities increased in addition to the repercussions of the drought. that strikes the country.
Last March, Bak Al Maghrib decided to raise the interest rate by 50 basis points to 3%, once morest 2.5% previously, in an attempt to curb the high inflation resulting from the repercussions of the war in Ukraine.
The central bank said in a statement following its board meeting that the decision comes in order to “avoid inflationary shocks” and “facilitate the return of inflation to rates consistent with the ‘price stability objective’.
Bak Al Maghrib also indicated that “the difficult global context is characterized by uncertainty given the continuation of the conflict in Ukraine, the geopolitical division, the tightening of credit conditions and the growing risks linked to banking crises. “.
According to BAM’s statement, “despite the relative reduction in external pressures, there is a continued acceleration of inflation, due to internal supply shocks on some food commodities.”
The Central Bank lowered the interest rate twice in 2020, the first in March by 100 basis points to 2%, and the second in July of the same year by 50 basis points to 1.5%.
On September 27, BAM raised interest rates by 50 basis points, then raised them once more last December by 50 basis points.
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