The High Commission for Planning in Morocco expected a growth of 0.5 percent of GDP on an annual basis during the first quarter of 2021, after the contraction lasted four seasons. Indicating that local economic growth expectations are due to agricultural growth of 0.5 percent, offset by a contraction in the non-agricultural sectors of 0.5 percent.
It expected a slight increase in domestic demand during the current first quarter, as household expenditures directed towards consumption will improve, in parallel with a recovery in food and manufactured sales, while transportation, restaurants and entertainment expenditures will witness some improvement. According to the commission's report, foreign demand directed to Morocco (imports) will witness an estimated increase of 4.2 percent during the first quarter of 2021, on an annual basis.
Morocco's foreign exchange balance is approximately $ 33 billion, as this will cover more than seven months of imports of goods and services. The delegation's expectations indicate that Morocco's economy contracted by 5.5 percent during the fourth quarter of last year, while previous data showed a contraction of 7.2 percent during the third quarter of 2020. Despite Morocco's adoption of an economic recovery plan in the range of $ 13 billion, and betting on reviving the economy with its impact on the labor market in the new year, Bank Al-Maghrib (the central bank) expects that this will remain dependent on the clearance of the uncertainty related to vaccination in Morocco and its partners. Especially the Europeans.
Source (Al-Araby Al-Jadeed Newspaper, Edited)
