Moroccans rally against high cost of living

DEMONSTRATIONS were organised at the weekend in different cities of Morocco to protest against the soaring prices of foodstuffs, at the call of a coalition of left- wing parties. In Casablanca, more than 60 people demonstrated their fed up against the high cost of living, at the Sraghna square in a popular district of the megalopolis.

“I can’t take it anymore, life has become painful because of the price increase,” Fouad, 21, who took part in the demonstration called by the Social Front, a coalition of leftwing parties and trade unions said.

“We denounce the policy of the government which promised to be a government of the social state but which turns out to be one of social disparities,” Abdelkader Amri, member of the executive board of the Democratic Confederation of Labor ( CDT, left), told AFP.

Groups of demonstrators also gathered in Rabat, Tangier or Marrakech.

“The price hike is a disgrace”, our country is agricultural but vegetables are expensive,” chanted some 60 protesters gathered in front of the parliament in the capital.

The protests come amid a surge in inflation that has put the government under fire from trade unions, the parliamentary opposition and the local media.

This inflation is accentuated by the sharp rise in food prices (+ 18.2 per cent) in the middle of the holy month of Ramadan, during which the level of consumption usually increases.

Growth rebounded to + three per cent in the first quarter of 2023, compared to + 0.3 per cent in the same period last year, according to the HCP.

At the same time, the Central Bank of Morocco raised its key rate by 50 basis points to three per cent on March 21, to curb the rise in prices affecting low- income and vulnerable households.

This is the third time the BAM has raised its key rate since September 2022.

This decision goes against the government’s roadmap for economic recovery in the kingdom.