RABAT – Morocco’s consumer price inflation almost doubled to an annual 1.9 percent in June from its level a month earlier, official data showed on Friday, after the government imposed a sharp hike in fuel prices to tame government spending on subsidies.

On a monthly basis, inflation rose 0.5 percent in June from May, driven by a 0.2 percent rise in food prices and a 4 percent jump in transport costs, the High Planning Authority (HCP) said.

But on an annual basis, prices of food products, which account for about 40 percent of the consumer price index’s total weighting, increased by 2 percent in June while transportation costs climbed 1.3 percent.
Core inflation rose 0.6 percent in June from its level a year earlier, the authority said. Inflation, which stood at 0.9 percent in 2011, is projected to rise to as much as 2.5 percent in 2012, the government has said. – Agencies On 2 June, the cash-strapped government raised prices of refined oil products by up to 27 percent, the sharpest single increase in fuel prices in many years.

The state spent the equivalent of 6 percent of the country’s $100 billion gross domestic product (GDP) in 2011 on subsidizing staples, mostly wheat and sugar, as well as energy products, to hold down inflation.

The government is preparing a reform of the subsidy system that would reduce the burden on public finances while ensuring that poorer Moroccans obtain direct compensation from the state for the dismantling of the subsidies. – Agencies