Food prices, which account for about 40 percent of the consumer price index's total weighting, rose 0.4 percent in February compared with their level a year earlier and versus a 1.6 percent rise in January, the High Planning Authority said.

Communication costs meanwhile fell 12.6 percent in the 12 months to end-February, 2012, it said.

Underlying inflation, a gauge used byMorocco's central bank to set the benchmark interest, rose 1.3 percent year-on-year, the authority said.

On a monthly basis, inflation rose 0.3 percent from January after a 0.7 percent rise in food prices.

Inflation, which stood at 0.9 percent in 2011, is projected to rise to as much as 2.5 percent in 2012, the government said.

The state has spent the equivalent of 6 percent of the $97-billion Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on subsidising staples, mostly wheat and sugar, as well as energy products, to hold down inflation.