Rabat – Morocco’s successful efforts to mitigate the economic consequences of COVID-19 have not gone unnoticed, as Jihad Azour, Director of the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) observed that “Morocco has succeeded in returning to the path of growth.”
During an IMF press conference on regional economic prospects, on April 11, Azour lauded the Moroccan economy as “one of the most dynamic economies to adapt to restrictions as well as opportunities,” within the context of COVID-19.
The IMF official also stressed that Morocco’s efforts in its national vaccination campaign, which has been internationally recognized, will be a “critical factor” in the country’s recovery.
Azour noted that in 2020 Morocco faced “two crises: the Covid-19 crisis and the drought that affected the Moroccan economy and caused a fairly strong economic downturn compared to previous years.” Despite the pandemic pressure, “this year, thanks to the measures taken by the government last year, whether health, tax, and monetary measures, Morocco has succeeded in returning to the path of growth,” he continued.
In this context, Morocco’s return to the “path of growth” was marked by a “number of innovations,” particularly social protection reforms, which saw the government help more than 5 million families to access social security through the recently digitized system.
Read also: World Bank ‘Proud’ to Support Social Protection Reforms in Morocco
The director also underlined the country’s successful national vaccination campaign noting that, besides the oil-producing Gulf countries, Morocco is “the most advanced country in Africa, and in the Middle East and North Africa region… Morocco is one of the most advanced countries” in terms of vaccination efforts.
According to recent data from Our World in Data, Morocco has fully vaccinated 11.2% of its population and currently leads Africa in terms of vaccination campaigns against COVID-19. As of April 11, in Morocco, 4,471,831 people have been inoculated with the first dose of the vaccine, while 4,134,740 people have received the second dose.
He believes that Morocco’s enacted measures helped to encourage economic growth in 2021, “as well as position itself on a better path for the future.”
For their part, the IMF helped strengthen Morocco’s economic stability, through the bank’s monetary policy. Furthermore, the IMF’s and World Bank’s annual meetings which will be held in Morocco in 2022, “will be an opportunity for the Moroccan economy and society to demonstrate their ability to resilience and growth.”
The latest IMF report on economic prospects predicts that the Moroccan economy will experience a 4.5% growth in 2021 and a 3.9% growth in 2022.
