The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) held its first ordinary meeting for the year 2021 on 3 March 2021, by videoconference, under the chairmanship of Tiémoko Meyliet KONE, Governor of the Central Bank, its statutory President. The Committee reviewed the main developments in international and regional economic conditions in the recent period, as well as the risk factors that could affect the medium-term outlook for inflation and economic growth in the Union. Thus, in international commodity markets, the prices of energy and other commodities recovered for the second consecutive quarter, after two successive quarters of decline.
According to World Bank data, energy prices rose by 8.4% in the fourth quarter of 2020, after the 33.9% increase observed in the previous quarter. As for the prices of non-energy commodities, they maintained an upward trend, with an increase of 9.5% in the fourth quarter of 2020, as in the previous quarter. In particular, the prices of agricultural raw materials exported by EU countries recorded an acceleration in the pace of growth with growth of 10.5% in the fourth quarter of 2020, after 6.0% in the previous quarter.