Rabat – Morocco’s economic recovery is outperforming nations across Africa and Latin America according to new Bloomberg data. Financial data company Bloomberg on Wednesday, April 21, released the “Bloomberg economics ranking” which evaluates the economic recovery of 75 emerging market economies.
China, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Taiwan, the UAE, and Qatar led the difficult global recovery following the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. East Asia and GCC nations all performed well in ensuring a successful economic recovery after a year marked by lockdowns and other restrictive measures that impacted domestic economies.
The ranking places Morocco’s economic recovery in the top 10 of the world as the north African nation outperformed all of Eastern Europe, Africa, Central and South America, as well as the Caribbean.
The Bloomberg ranking considers Jamaica, Lebanon, and Ukraine as the countries whose economic recovery is behind the rest of similar emerging nations. Yet, the ranking’s exclusion of war-ravaged Syria, Libya, and Yemen are likely to have skewed the results.
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Bloomberg’s findings regarding Morocco’s economic recovery mirror that of the IMF expressed in its webinar “Global Economic Forecast: What Prospects for Morocco and the MENA region?” The international financial institution’s Mission Chief in Morocco, Roberto Cardarelli, described Morocco’s vaccination campaign as “agile” but emphasized the importance of continued vaccination in the tourism-dependent country.
An April 14 country report by risk-management firm Atradius similarly described Morocco’s recovery as “robust” although it warned of rising public debt amid a projected 5% GDP growth. “While exports of goods and services are forecast to grow by almost 9% in 2021, recovery in the tourism sector will remain muted for the time being,” the report stated.
While for many in Morocco an economic recovery still feels elusive amid a halt in tourism and global travel, Morocco’s government is receiving international praise for its efforts to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 crisis.
It appears that Morocco’s government is using the crisis as an opportunity to draw large swaths of society into the formal sector by offering universal healthcare and social benefits. If Morocco’s vaccination campaign continues at a similar rate, the country’s recovery could ensure many citizens will be better off in the long run by gaining access to healthcare, pensions, and labor protections.
