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New York – Alcohol sales in Morocco are far from insignificant. According to L’Economiste, the Moroccan treasury receives over 1 billion dirhams in revenue from the sale of liquor in the Kingdom.
“Behind the passion around alcohol lies a true cash machine for the state budget”, the French daily said in its weekend edition.
Liquor sales tax brought the state more than 1 billion dirhams in revenue in 2014. This figure includes the sale of beer for MAD 708 million and 456 million for the sale of wines and spirits.
According to the same source, Moroccans consume 85 million liters of beer every year.
In 2014, Moroccans consumed 260 million bottles of beer and 30 million liters of wines and spirits.
In the first 9 months of 2015, the sale of alcohol has already reached a staggering MAD 800 million in revenue to the treasury.
What is more, these figures are only based on ‘formal market’ sales.
The sale of liquor in the Kingdom is governed by “two rules dating back to 1967 with numerous loopholes that make them unenforceable” the source said.
Moroccan law calls for a ban on alcohol sales to Muslims to preserve the Islamic identity of the country, which prohibits the sale and consumption of intoxicants.
The Wilaya of Casablanca recently banned the organization of Beer Festival and labeled it as a “bold step incompatible with Islam”.
