In the midst of a peak in high food and consumer goods prices in Morocco, the cafe and restaurant sector, like other sectors of the economy, complained of “financial damage” as a result of increased spending due to high prices in the international market. .
Professional sources indicated in this regard that the gradual recovery of the sector is facing successive price crises, stressing that restaurants and cafes have kept the prices of consumer goods offered to customers at the same level, despite additional financial costs.
Prices for vegetables, fruit and meat have risen at a record pace over the past few days, given the wave of high prices that has characterized the international market in light of global climate conditions and volatility in fuel prices in recent months.
Noureddine Al-Harraq, head of the National Association of Cafe and Restaurant Owners in Morocco, said: “The sector has yet to recover from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic as the number of transactions has fallen by 30-40 percent, except for about ten percent of cafes and restaurants located in strategically important places.”
Al-Kharraq added in a statement to the Hespress e-newspaper that “the prices of all food, consumer goods and services have risen sharply in recent weeks, while some increases have reached 200 percent, reducing the financial returns of professionals.” “.
The same specialist explained that “restaurants have suffered from a wave of high prices that affected vegetables, fruits and meat, but have maintained their previous prices due to a decrease in the purchasing power of citizens, which makes it difficult to approve a price increase because it will cause conflict with customers.”
And the same spokesman added that “the government exacerbated this social crisis through tax audits approved by the territorial authorities, as well as huge financial penalties that professionals received from the National Social Insurance Fund, which led to the seizure of their bank accounts.”
The head of the National Association of Cafe and Restaurant Owners of Morocco stated that “the sector employs two million people in Morocco, making it more of a social unit than an industrial one”, calling for “overcoming existing legal shortcomings that burden professionals”. , and deal with stress similar to other sectors.”
The same specialist indicated that “the association will hold the next meeting with the Minister of Trade and Industry to discuss existing laws that are disproportionate to the difficult socio-economic situation”, stressing that “the income of cafes and restaurants in small towns and rural centers is different from their counterparts in cities , which requires a revision of the current legislation.
