Morocco annual inflation eases to 0.3 pct in January

Pulse Staff 09:33 - 22 February 2016

A vendor sells traditional cakes of fried honey and flour pastries to customers during the first day of Ramadan in the medina of the Moroccan city of Oujda June 18, 2015. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal

RABAT (Reuters) - Morocco's annual consumer price inflation eased to 0.3 percent in January from 0.6 percent in December, mainly due to falling food prices, the country's High Planning Authority said on Monday.

Food inflation eased to 0.2 percent from 1.1 percent from January 2015 to January 2016. Non-food price inflation rose at 0.6 percent, from 0.2 percent in December.

Transport costs fell 0.4 percent, while hotels and restaurants were 2.3 percent more expensive, the agency said.

On a month-on-month basis, the consumer price index eased to 0.1 percent in January, down from 0.5 percent in December. Food price inflation fell 0.3 percent, while non-food inflation dropped 0.1 percent.

(Reporting by Aziz El Yaakoubi; editing by Katharine Houreld)