Join on WhatsApp
Join on Telegram
Rabat – While Morocco’s widely applauded COVID management has been largely positive for the country’s economic outlook, most Moroccan households remain pessimistic about their financial prospects and take a grim view of employment rates in the coming months.
According to a recent report by Morocco’s High Commission for Planning (HCP), the morale of Moroccan households experienced an improvement in the third quarter of 2021 compared to the same quarter in 2020.
A household’s morale is determined on the basis of the confidence index (MCI), which revolves around four aspects: the standard of living, the unemployment rate, the opportunity to make purchases of durable goods, and the financial situation of households.
According to HCP’s report, the MCI stood at 65.5% instead of 63% and 60.6% recorded in the previous quarter and 60.6% a year earlier at the same period.
The survey revealed that around 59.4% of Moroccan households declared a drop in their standard of living over the past 12 months, while 22.7% stated that they maintained the same living standard and 17.9% experienced an improvement.
However, around 24.4% of households expect a deterioration in living standard in the coming year, 41.8% expect to remain at the same level and 33.8% foresee an improvement.
Roughly, 84.2% of households are expecting the unemployment rate to rise over the next 12 months whereas 5.9% forecast a drop.
Meanwhile, HCP’s report added that 72.1% of households consider this year as not a good time to purchase durable goods. Only 10% of Moroccan households disagreed with this assessment.
The report also indicated that 55.1% of households declared that their monthly income covers their daily expenses, while 40.7% will go into debt or use their savings, and 4.2% said they save part of their income.
Over the last 12 months, 53.7% against 5.7% of households consider that their financial situation has dropped while 29.9% against 14.8% saw an improvement.
