Morocco: Economic Center Expects Growth to Reach 4.6% in 2020
Business
Casablanca - Lahcen Mokena
A Moroccan business center has expected the country's economic growth to accelerate to 4.6 percent next year compared to 2.6 percent in 2019. Mohammed al-Tahrawi from the Centre Marocain de Conjuncture -CMC said at a press conference in Casablanca that the forecast is based on a possible improvement in the agriculture sector in 2020 although production in 2019 was effected by drought. Tahrawi continued that agriculture is expected to witness a growth of 9.5 percent in 2020, after a drop of 3.7 percent in 2019 due to below average rains and an inadequate water distribution. He noted that Morocco’s economic growth continues to suffer from the repercussions of climate conditions. The economy achieved a growth of 4.6 percent in 2015 then dropped to 1.2 percent in 2016. In 2017, it rose to 4.1 percent before declining again to 3.3 percent in 2018 and to 2.6 percent this year. The value-added agriculture saw a hike of 14 percent in 2015 and a decline of 12.8 percent in 2016. Then it rose 15.1 percent in 2017, 2.9 percent in 2018 before dropping 4.5 percent in 2019. According to Tahrawi, this fluctuation affects other sectors such as the manufacturing and services industries given the interconnection among them. CMC experts urged more diversification in the economy, namely in manufacturing and services. CMC Director Ahmed Abboudi explained that the Moroccan economy relies heavily on imports, calling for prioritizing exports as the sole means to make hard currency earnings. Morocco is also highly dependent on remittances of expatriates and foreign investments for hard currency, despite the development of the industrial sector in the past years, Abboudi added. The automotive industry has become the number one exporting sector in Morocco.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1922401/morocco-economic-center-expects-growth-reach-46-2020
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