Moroccan Minister of Economy and Finance Mohamed Benchaâboun considered that "all economic forecasts in Morocco remain fraught with the risks associated with the repercussions of the pandemic this year," saying that "all expectations are open to the possibility of re-reviewing them."
Benchaâboun emphasized that "the Moroccan economy will suffer three concurrent shocks this year, contrary to what was the case with the financial crisis that the world has experienced 12 years ago, and the first of these shocks will be of an external nature linked to the contraction of the global economy, while the second shock has to do with preventive health measures, while the third shock has to do with the succession of two years of drought."
He also stressed that "macroeconomic balances (macroeconomics) will be greatly affected, especially with the high budget deficit, which is expected to reach 7.5 percent of GDP, or 8.4 billion dollars, compared to 3.5 percent in the past year," noting that, based on expectations of a 5 percent decrease in crude output this year, it is expected that approximately 227,000 jobs will be lost in the non-agricultural sector and 78,000 jobs in the agricultural sector, which would raise the unemployment rate from 9.2 in the past year to 13 percent this year."
Source (The New Arab Newspaper, Edited)
