By Loubna Flah Morocco World News Casablanca, May 18, 2013 Phosphates exports plummeted considerably according to the National Office for Exchange. A drop by 30% was recorded during last month of the current year 2013. Sources close to the Cherifian Office for Phosphates (OCP) asserted that the steep drop in Phosphates exports was not totally unexpected. According to the Moroccan daily Al Massae, OCP offici ...

Paris - May 15, 2013 (MAP) French foreign trade minister, Nicole Bricq, will pay on Thursday a visit to Morocco where she will participate in the 1st Panafrican meeting of French external trade advisors. Bricq’s fourth visit of the kind to Morocco “illustrates the unique relations between the two countries and France’s will to remain Morocco’s first economic partner in a context of increases competition”, a ...

Rabat, May 15, 2013 (MAP) Morocco moved up to the 70th position gaining three places compared to last year in the ranking established by the World Economic Forum (WEF) on competitiveness in Africa for 2013. Morocco, which continues its momentum in terms of competitiveness, ranks fourth on the African level outdistancing all North African countries on this indicator of competitiveness, according to a press r ...

BRUSSLES,May 15, 2013 (AFP) The European Commission has carried out surprise inspections at several major oil companies over possible price fixing in breach of EU anti-trust rules. The Commission did not name any of the companies involved in Tuesday's raids but British energy giant BP, Shell and Norway's Statoil said that their offices had been visited. The Commission statement explained that even small dis ...

By Youssef Sourgo Morocco World News Casablanca, May 13, 2013 Morocco ranked second most attractive African country for foreign investors in a recent study conducted by Ernst and Young, one of the largest professional service firms in the world, wrote daily La Vie Eco. Morocco came second after South Africa on the list of the most captivating and strategic destinations for international investments. The sur ...

ISTANBUL, May 10, 2013 (AFP) The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) drastically lowered on Friday its overall growth outlook in 2013 for the countries in which it operates, particularly for Russia and Egypt. The EBRD slashed a January forecast of 2013 growth of 3.1 percent to 2.2 percent for all countries in its activity zone spreading from Eastern Europe to Central Asia and to the sout ...

WASHINGTON, May 09, 2013 (AFP) The International Monetary Fund on Thursday highlighted Egypt's rising economic challenges and said that loan negotiations under way must reflect the evolving conditions. The IMF is working with the Egyptian authorities to develop a plan to address "growing fiscal imbalances," Fund spokesman Gerry Rice said. "We are awaiting updated economic data and reform plans from the auth ...

Casablanca,May 09, 2013 (MAP) Moroccan “Attijariwafa Bank” group (AWB) and Togo’s government signed on Tuesday in Kara the final agreement for the purchase by AWB of 55pc of the capital of the International Bank for Africa (BIA-Togo). According to a statement of the Moroccan group, the agreement was signed one month after AWB won the transitional bid for the privatization of the Togolose bank. This operatio ...

CAIRO, May 08, 2013 (AFP) Egypt's foreign currency reserves rose by $1 billion to $14.42 billion in April, the Central Bank said on Wednesday, as Egypt struggles to pull itself out of economic crisis. Reserves had fallen to $13.42 at the end of March. The April jump includes a $2 billion loan from Libya, but reserves are still short of what authorities say are a "critical minimum" of $15 billion.  Last mont ...

By Loubna Flah Morocco World News Casablanca, May 8, 2013 The Moroccan pharmaceutical industry is hard hit by a crippling crisis since the first term of the year as reported by the Moroccan daily Al Massae. Sources close to Al Massae revealed that  the transactions in the pharmaceutical industry has plummeted by 20 percent falling from MAD847.8 billion during May to less than MAD676.4 billion at the end of ...

By Youssef Sourgo Morocco World News Casablanca, May 8, 2013 The commercial activity of Maroc Telecom is still being substantially affected by the highly competitive local market, wrote daily La Vie Eco in its Tuesday's edition. The operator’s revenues contracted by a significant 4.7% compared to the same period last year, thus reaching MAD 7.2 billion in total. Such decline is explained by the recorded dec ...

Rabat, May 8, 2013 (MAP) The European Union extended Morocco MAD400 million to support the country's forest policy. Under an agreement signed in Rabat this Tuesday by EU ambassador to Morocco, Rupert Joy, and Morocco's high commissioner for water, forests and the fight against desertification, Abduladim Lhafi and economy and finance minister, Nizar Baraka, the support seeks to reinforce the efficiency of th ...