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Monday 29 January 2018

Moroccan Economy Expected to Grow by 4.6% in 2017 against 1.2% in 2016, Minister Says

Vocal synthesis
Moroccan Economy Expected to Grow by 4.6% in 2017 against 1.2% in 2016, Minister Says

Morocco's economy is expected to grow by 4.6% in 2017 compared to 1.2% in 2016, Minister of Economy and Finance, Mohamed Boussaid, said here on Friday.

This performance is the result of the improvement of the agricultural added value (+15.4%) in the first three quarters of 2017 compared to -12.5 pc in the same period a year earlier, the minister explained at a press briefing.

Inflation slowed to 0.7% in 2017 against 1.6% in the previous year on the back mainly of more stable food prices, he noted.

Furthermore, 89,000 jobs were created between the third quarter of 2016 and the third quarter of 2017, Boussaid said, adding that the unemployment rate increased slightly from 10.4% to 10.6% due in particular to the increase in the labour force (+1.1 pc) and the increase in the volume of employment (+0.9 pc).

Regarding trade, the minister said that the trade deficit widened by 2.6%, as a result of a 6.3% increase in imports and a rising energy bill, while Morocco’s exports increased by 9.3%.

The flow of Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) in Morocco increased by 12% (+2.5 billion Dirhams), he said, noting that this performance is attributed to a decrease of expenditures by 58%.

Remittances of Moroccan expatriates grew by 4.5% between 2016 and 2017, Boussaid said.

-MAP-26/01/018