"The performance of the national economy is still insufficient to respond to the increasing social demands," said Abdellatif Jouahri, the governor of the Central Bank of Morocco, pointing to "the weak growth and indebtedness."
Al- Jouahri called for reforming the education sector to make it in line with the labor market. Adding that "Morocco's development on a steady growth path requires strengthening the competitiveness and addressing the structural weaknesses of the Moroccan institutions while reducing the scope of the informal sector."
He also said that the "Government spending to offset the slowdown in growth should take into account the indebtedness of the state, and in this sense it is necessary to reform the government support by targeting the needy families in a better way."
Morocco has largely avoided the turmoil in North Africa and the Middle East since the Arab Spring uprisings in 2011. But social and economic demands remain, with widespread demonstrations in the country's northern country region in late 2016 and in Jerada the mining city in early 2018.
Morocco's economy grew by 3% in 2018 and the growth is expected to slow to 2.7% in 2019, with a 10% unemployment rate raising up to 25% among the youth.
Source: (CNBC Arabic Website, Edited)
