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Rabat – The Moroccan economy remains resilient despite the current challenges posed by the pandemic, the country’s Department of Economic and Financial Forecasts (DEPF) has concluded in its latest report.
As the national economy recovers from the 2020 recession, states the report, Morocco is expected to experience “a growth ranging from 5.5% to 5.8%” in 2021. .
Part of Morocco’s relatively encouraging economic performance despite the COVID crisis is that the country’s agricultural aggregates peaked after a year of drought. An equally significant part of the positive economic outlook, according to the DEPF, is due to “the efforts made by Morocco in terms of vaccination and recent relaxation measures initiated by public authorities.”
The latest economic indicators forecast an upturn in economic activity in 2021. This increase is due to the rise of cereal production, making the commodity the second best agricultural product in the current season. A similar spike in cereal production was last recorded in the 2014-2015 fiscal year.
As for domestic demand, the DEPF reports that household consumption has reached its pre-pandemic level.
Favorable trends in median incomes align with the equally favorable agricultural results, in addition to the revival of job creation in the second quarter of 2021, the recovery of consumer loans and the significant returns from international transfers. .
With regard to investments, the DEPF’s economic conditions report highlights important signs of recovery in terms of capital goods’ imports, the rise of foreign direct investment income (FDI) (+ 13.7%) and the resumption of budget investment (8.5% ).
Non-agricultural activities remain steady after regaining the same performance levels recorded before the COVID crisis. The same goes for manufacturing industries, as well as construction, electrical energy, and telecommunications.
The DEPF report states that electric power production grew by 7.9% at the end of June, while cement sales increased by 17.7% at the end of July.
Available data also notes improvements in manufacturing industries’ productivity rates, which reached a 72.5% margin at the end of June 2021.
In terms of foreign trade, the report illustrates a strengthening of exports (+ 24%) as well as imports (+ 19.5%) with a coverage rate of 2.2 points.
The service sector remains heavily impacted by a considerable drop in tourism and transport activities – with a relative improvement observed especially after the gradual reopening of borders to international air travel since mid-June 2021.
