Inflation had reached 5.1 per cent in July, driven by high fuel and food prices.

Food costs climbed by 8.3 per cent in the 12 months to the end of August, although government subsidises for basic foodstuffs helped limit the inflationary effect.

In mid-September Abdellatif Jouahri, the governor of Bank al-Maghrib, Morocco's central bank, said he remained worried about inflation.

"For the time being, inflation remains a cause of concern because despite efforts to keep it in check, imported inflation has an impact," he said the local Le Matin newspaper on 18 September. "Inflation through costs creates, with wage rises, a vicious circle."