We hear people talking about how expensive life is in morocco, how it is getting harder by the day and how they don’t know whether they can survive until the following paycheck or not. Perplexed, we see no truth in this, we think that it is the Moroccan drama, “we, being Moroccans living abroad”, after all exaggeration is a Moroccan art. We think that they have cheap goods and services, because when we spend our summer money, it seems that way to us.
I am sure that my experience has happened to some of you, we buy a sandwich for DH 20 and we think “this is cheap!” or a café for DH 10 and we compare it Starbucks for $5 and we think that it is reasonable, but lately I have been experiencing less jubilations when I buy things in Morocco, maybe I do not care too much, or maybe and this is the maybe I am talking about in this article, life is getting expensive in Morocco and things are not that cheap to buy anymore. For the sake of comparison, 99 ¢ stores in America sell all kinds of Chinese made goods for less than a dollar; in Morocco they have the same concept and the same products but for 13 DH which is equal to $1.70. The buying power of Moroccans is much higher than it was 10 years ago but it is very far from being 70% higher than that of the Americans.
Already the American buying power is 500% higher than that of Moroccans; this means that a Moroccan feels the impact of buying Chinese products 570% more than an American. Electronics and cars are unreasonably expensive, an old beat-up Fiat Palioa is gold in Morocco, it is worth up to $6500 take it or leave it, a decent fridge costs $1600 and Moroccans are still buying plasma TVs for $5000. These prices are too high even for western standards.
I am convinced that Moroccans are very good budget managers, they mange to live with these exorbitant prices and pay private schools for their children and the mortgage with an average Moroccan salary which could be as little as $600 per month, in the US private schools are a privilege reserved to the elites not the middle class, home ownership is not for everyone and vacation is spent watching TV at home. Quality of life is a major issue these days, people want to live better in, China, Vietnam or Africa, they want cozy homes and surrounded with comfort, internet, Satellite TV and a nice car, these things are what the modern person considers as comfort, this comfort is sought in Morocco as well as in the US except that in Morocco access to it is much harder and it is getting harder with time, take for example the health system and the education, they are all there with international standards but with exorbitant prices and one much give up a lot to access them. Every neighborhood in Casablanca has a state of the art Clinic with modern equipments but not for all, the service is for those who could afford it.
Our government is overwhelmed by these events and rapid changes; they do not have a clue of how to face the rise of prices and the diminishing of the middle-class in Morocco. Take for example Fathallah Oulaalou, a recent pole of approval showed that Moroccans ranked him 25th in a list of 35 ministers, although his ministry is ranked 5th (pole results taken from aujourdhui magazine). This shows that most Moroccans disagree with his economic strategy; he is not even able to implement prior engagements with enough dedication and efficiency.
The other day Moroccans marched to express their concerns about the rise of prices; they marched for the first time in decades in order to say that life is getting expensive, that first necessities are getting out of reach too! Morocco looks like a country on its way to development and walking around big cities such as Casablanca or Marrakech may give you the deceiving impression that Moroccans live easily, no, there is still poverty and people who can not sustain the rapid and sharp rise of prices especially after the monopolization of retail outlets by two major companies. The average Moroccan is now struggling to keep up with these companies and their pricing.
Comfort is expensive in Morocco, but the gravity of the matter lays in the fact that necessities are getting expensive, borrowing money is expensive and the basic amenities are expensive too. No matter how much money you take with you on your vacation to Morocco, it will be spent and quickly, no matter how much you wait for the dollar to go up or the dirham to go down our purchasing power, as Moroccans who depend on foreign currency exchange rate, is diminishing by the day, the dirham is too strong and things are much more expensive when you earn your money in a currency that is losing value by the minute. Moroccans living abroad are feeling the burden of the high prices combined with weak dollar and the Moroccans living in the country are paying very high interest rates on their houses cars and everything around them is becoming out of reach. Consumer goods that are subsidized by the government are getting expensive too “tea, sugar, cooking oil and cereals”.
It is expensive to buy a lamb for the Eid, clothes, electronics, cars and many other items; there should be a policy to control these prices or how much foreign companies can charge Moroccan consumers for their goods; the worst feeling is when you can not provide for your family because you can not afford the essentials, a feeling of desperation overwhelms the person. There are many consequences to the level of desperation many Moroccans feel and some of these consequences are destructive and problematic; such as prostitution, early school drop outs, drug selling and consuming and others. So, the prices are not just numbers, they are people’s livelihood and a policy of price protection should be implemented and immediately to guarantee decent living to all Moroccans.
Protecting Moroccan consumers is an obligation that the government should fulfill because without this protection, and especially with the globalization and the world market’s new structure, The Moroccan is vulnerable to big companies’ price fixing and exaggerated evaluation of goods, only the government could have a solution to such practices.
Most of the Diaspora wants to retire in the home land to live its golden years under the beautiful Moroccan sun eating Couscous every Friday and watching our country flourish, but this dream is becoming like a mirage, closer we get to it farther it seems, we are about to lose that dream and to accept the fact that Morocco is becoming a retirement home for the affluent Europeans.
With low average incomes in Morocco and high prices, the Moroccan consumer is hard pressed between staying in the country and immigrating to other parts of the world to elevate his standards of living and the country loses many forces that it desperately needs. So to keep an educated, productive and active population the government should address this issue immediately.
"Hé ! bonjour, Monsieur du Corbeau.
Que vous êtes joli ! que vous me semblez beau !
Sans mentir, si votre ramage
Se rapporte à votre plumage,
Vous êtes le Phénix des hôtes de ces bois."
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