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Rabat – Despite reviewing Morocco’s economic growth prospects upwards in October 2021, with poverty indicators resuming a downward trajectory, the World Bank economic outlook for Morocco suggests that poverty indicators will only return to pre-pandemic levels by 2023.
According to the World Bank, the pandemic caused severe disruptions in Morocco’s two-decade gradual socio-economic progress. The country’s poverty indicators rapidly deteriorated at the start of the second quarter of 2020 because of the repercussions of the COVID crisis and the effect of adverse weather on agriculture.
The sudden lockdown and the ensuing loss of half a million jobs caused an unprecedented spike in poverty and vulnerability indicators, the World Bank assessed.
Under the $3.2 Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) line, extreme poverty in Morocco should remain under 1%, says the bank’s outlook.
It also projects that the percentage of the country’s “vulnerable” population categories ($5.5 PPP) will fall to 26.7% in 2021, down from 28.2% in 2020.
The trend is expected to continue, with poverty rates expected to return to pre-pandemic levels by 2023.
According to the same outlook, the successful implementation of social protection reforms and creating more jobs can potentially accelerate the process.
But the World Bank also hailed Morocco’s economic recovery strategy, stating that the North African country “stands out” thanks to the government’s strategy of seizing the COVID pandemic as an opportunity to correct the course of its development model.
While still grappling with the COVID-19 crisis, Morocco revealed plans to put in motion a New Development Model. The new model is mainly aimed at enhancing the North African country’s competitiveness, improving its health and education sectors, addressing geographical inequalities, and preserving natural resources.
The World Bank additionally points out that Morocco’s adoption of proper industrial policies will put the country on track to become a nearshoring destination for multinational corporations and thus take advantage of post-COVID economic opportunities.
