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Rabat – Abdellatif Jouahri, The governor of Morocco’s central bank, Bank Al-Maghrib (BAM), used the occasion of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank annual meetings to highlight the country’s relief efforts in the wake of the devastation caused by the September 8 earthquake in the region of Al Haouz.
A key part of the relief efforts was the launch of a special fund to collect donations and contributions to help rebuild the earthquake-hit regions and provide much-needed financial assistance to the affected communities and families.
To date, the fund has collected MAD 12 billion, or $1.15 billion, Jouahri announced during the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings that kicked off today in Marrakech.
The BAM chief went on to discuss the impact of the earthquake, stressing that a comprehensive assessment is underway in collaboration with the IMF to review all the impacts of the earthquake on different sectors.
He also emphasized that there is an ongoing assessment by the World Bank, whose initial estimates forecast that the earthquake will have a “moderate macroeconomic impact.”
In addition, Jouahri recalled that Morocco has allocated a budget of $11.5 billion to address the earthquake crisis and that stakeholders have made comparisons with other countries that have experienced similar disasters in order to draw up concrete recovery plans.
The BAM governor described the budget as equivalent to 20% of GDP, which is in line with what other countries usually put aside to restore property.
“You cannot imagine the extent of the solidarity fund when you are negotiating with international organizations,” he said.
Read also: World Bank, IMF Annual Meetings Kick off with Book Launch on Morocco’s Growth
Several other panelists also highlighted Morocco’s relief efforts, including IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva, who hailed Moroccans’ resilience and Morocco’s forward-looking vision to rebuild and assist the affected communities.
Georgieva said that, as she toured earthquake-affected communities over the weekend, she saw a “glimpse of how the country is thinking of building forwards, rather than just restoring what was there.”
In particular, the IMF chief spoke of visiting students from affected villages who are already back to school in different institutions.
