Morocco’s economy shrank by 6.3 percent in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic and a bad agricultural harvest, the central bank said Saturday.
The labour market lost 432,000 jobs, state budget deficit increased to 7.6 percent of the GDP, while the public debt rose to 76.4 percent of the GDP, said Abdellatif Jouahri, governor of Morocco’s central bank, in a statement released after he presented to the Moroccan king the annual report on the economic situation for the 2020 fiscal year.
During the year 2020, current account deficit shrank to 1.5 percent of the GDP due to the decline of the country’s foreign exchanges, the foreign currency reserves increased to the equivalent of seven months of imports, and inflation was limited to 0.7 percent, the report added.
Morocco is gradually overcoming this crisis with significant progress in the vaccination campaign and a significant recovery of the economy, despite the concerns surrounding the evolution of the pandemic, Jouahri said.
The report added that Morocco should tackle some problems that affect the competitiveness of its economy, such as unfair competition, tax evasion, unprofitable subsidies as well as corruption.
The central bank also urged the government to reform the educational system, and diligently implement the generalization of social protection to all Moroccans, adding that it will be the most important project in the country during the post-pandemic period.
Follow our socials Whatsapp, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Google News.
