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Rabat – For the International Monetary Fund, Morocco is quite the good student. The international body commended the kingdom’s economic reforms, stressing however that the country still needs to “step up” its efforts in the implementation of social structural reforms.
After the executive board of the IMF concluded the Article IV consultation with Morocco, the international body published a report on the kingdom’s implementation of economic and social structural reforms.
As the region’s biggest energy importer, Morocco has been working closely with the IMF on a technical mission to liberalize the Dirham, after the global sharp drop in oil prices has boosted the kingdom’s finance.
Running an analysis through Morocco’s economic growth, unemployment rate, government expense, foreign exchange reserves and banking sector, the IMF “commended the Moroccan authorities for the sound macroeconomic policies and reform implementation.”
For the international organization, the kingdom succeeded in “improving its economic resilience, upgrade its fiscal and financial policy frameworks, and increase its economic diversification,” the IMF explained.
However, to consolidate and promote a stronger and more inclusive growth, the IMF stressed the need to “pursue sound fiscal and monetary policies and to redouble efforts on structural reforms,” while also adopting measures to strengthen the social protection framework.
To reduce unemployment, especially among young people where it’s the highest, and increase women‘s participation in the labor force, the IMF believes that “it will be essential to continue to strengthen the business climate, including through better governance and improved quality of education and vocational training.”
The IMF also reiterated its support to Morocco’s move to a more flexible exchange regime and dirham liberalization policies, stressing that itwill help the economy “absorb external shocks” and remain competitive.
Back in July, Bank Al Maghrib, Morocco’s central bank, postponed a scheduled announcement of the first phase of the implementation of this reform. While the bank hasn’t provided a justification for the delay, government officials said that the executives needed to further study the plan.
