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FOM Newsletter
November
2001
Morocco Week in Review
November 24, 2001
Arab
Monetary Fund: Morocco to record six percent growth in 2001
IMF says
Morocco needs economic growth to reduce poverty.
Morocco
announces strategy to reduce industrial wastes
Unemployment
Falls to 12.3 Percent in second Quarter (Minister)
Leather, Textile Exports
Increase by 4.5%
Moroccan
university signs accords for renewable energies development.
Moroccan MPs adopt
$14.3-bln draft budget/2002.
Morocco Jan-Sept
tourism receipts soar to $2.0 bln
Morocco eyes more
investment in tourism sector
Contribution of banks
to national economy up.
Moroccan economy on the upswing.
Arab Monetary Fund: Morocco to record six percent growth in 2001
November 23, 2001
The Moroccan economy is expected to record a six percent growth rate in 2001, compared to the meager 0.8 percent growth rate it had achieved in 2000 due to a severe drought, the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) forecasted in a recently published report. Based on the current industrial and agricultural production levels, oil and gas prices and recent economic reforms in several countries, the AMF assessed economic developments in nine Arab countries in 2001, of which Morocco is predicted to experience the most significant growth, reported Al-Watan. According to the report, Saudi Arabia is expected to record a 1.3 percent growth rate and a 0.5 percent inflation rate by the end of 2001. The drop in oil prices following the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States hampered the Kingdom's chances of reaching the previously predicted three percent growth rate. Saudi Arabia is expected to achieve a $45.3 billion foreign trade balance surplus in 2001 with exports reaching $73.2 billion and imports reaching $27.9. The Saudi balance of payments is also expected to achieve an $8.2 billion surplus. Egypt's average growth rate is expected to remain relatively unchanged compared to last year's 3.3 percent, however the Fund predicts the Egyptian foreign trade balance to indicate a $10.3 billion deficit with exports reaching $7.1 billion and the imports reaching $17.4 billion. The report assessed Kuwait's average growth rate at two percent for 2001, slightly higher than its 1.7 percent average growth rate in 2000. Bahrain and Oman are both expected to record a 3.5 percent growth rate. The AMF is an intergovernmental institution established in 1976. It is composed of all members of the League of Arab States, except the Comoros. The headquarters of the AMF are in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE). AMF aims to promote the stability of exchange rates among Arab currencies and render them mutually convertible, to correct disequilibria in the balance of payments of member states by providing loans and to establish policies of monetary cooperation and coordinate the positions of member states in dealing with international financial and economic problems. - (menareport.com)
http://www.Menareport.com/story/TheNews.php3?action=story&sid=190988&lang=e&dir=mena
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IMF says Morocco needs economic growth to reduce poverty.
Morocco needs to accelerate economic growth to reduce poverty and unemployment, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in its annual review of the Moroccan economy. "To achieve this objective," said the report issued Thursday, August 2, IMF directors "considered that macroeconomic policies will need to be tightened and structural reforms accelerated." The IMF, however, commended Morocco "for achieving macroeconomic stability, as evidenced by the comfortable external position and the maintenance of inflation at industrial countries' level, despite adverse weather conditions and terms of trade developments." The privatization of Maroc Telecom for $2.1 billion (six percent of GDP) during the first quarter of 2001 did a lot to brighten economic prospects, the IMF said. "This privatization process was open and transparent, and the price obtained substantially exceeded expectations, considering the downturn in the world telecommunication market," it stressed. "Better rainfall ... should lead to a 25 percent increase in agricultural output in 2001 with favorable spillovers on other sectors," the IMF added. "Real GDP growth is projected at six percent in 2001. Nonagricultural output is expected to increase by 3.8 percent driven by construction activity, telecommunications, and tourism," it added. Inflation should increase slightly to 3.0 percent in 2001, up from 1.9 percent in 2000 largely on account of the April devaluation of the dirham and the fiscal deficit is now projected to reach 7.2 percent of GDP, up from 6.5 percent last year, the report said. The IMF report warned against Morocco's increasing budget deficit excluding revenue from privatization. It agreed "that the fiscal stance could be placed on an unsustainable path unless measures are taken to bring the fiscal position more in line with the authorities' medium-term objectives." The report welcomed Morocco's determination to set the overall deficit target for 2002 at 3.0 percent of GDP, including privatization proceeds and stressed "the importance of strict adherence to this target and of further deficit reductions over the medium term." Some directors also "encouraged the authorities to envisage broadening the coverage of the value-added tax in order to offset future declines in custom revenues." They also stressed that the Central Bank of Morocco "should be ready to tighten monetary policy in response to any sign of inflationary pressures." "They urged the authorities to address promptly the non-performing loans of two public banks and ensure their full capitalization," the IMF report said. ? (AFP, Washington) © Agence France Presse 2001
http://www.Menareport.com/story/TheNews.php3?action=story&sid=174397&lang=e&dir=mena
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Morocco announces strategy to reduce industrial wastes
Environment, 11/22/2001
Morocco on Wednesday announced that it will devise a strategy meant to reduce industrial wastes and play down the effects of pollution. The announcement was made by industry and commerce minister, Mustapha Mansouri, who said that Morocco is aware of the dangers of chemical products and is keen on preserving population's health and environment. The minister said his department is currently revising the laws on polluting installations. He added that his department will associate industrialists in devising best means to preserve the environment and health. The strategy will provide for ecological rules to be strictly observed in every industrial activity.
http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/011122/2001112225.html
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Unemployment Falls to 12.3 Percent in second Quarter (Minister)
Economics, 11/21/2001
Unemployment fell by 0.9 percent to stand at 12.3 percent at the end of the second quarter of 2001 against 13.2 percent in the corresponding period in 2000, employment minister, Abbas El Fassi, said. Some 100,000 jobs were created in the private sector, El Fassi told the parliament. The minister said unemployment is intrinsically linked to economic growth which was of 3.5 percent between 1980 and 1990 against 2.2 percent between 1991 and 2000. El Fassi called for reforms, especially in administration, to lower obstacles hindering the easy flow of investments, which are the key to curbing unemployment. Part of the drives to reduce joblessness, the minister noted that the employment department is developing partnership ties with some sectors. He cited in this connection a project to create 600,000 new jobs in tourism and 120,000 ones in information technologies.
http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/011121/2001112128.html
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Leather, Textile Exports Increase by 4.5%
RABAT, Nov.21 - Moroccan exports of leather and textile items ?were worth up to end of September 22.2 billion DH (US$ 2.01 billion), which a 4.5% growth compared to the same period of ??200. According to the exchange office, the increase is due to ?the good performance of apparel (7.3%), shoes (11.7%) and cotton ?fabric which went up more than two folds. Meanwhile, hosiery ?items declined by 4.3%. Textile and leather items continue to rank first in ?Moroccan exports, with 38.2%, compared to 36.7% in the Jan-?Sept.2000 period.
http://www.map.co.ma/mapeng/news/economy/eco_005.htm
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Moroccan university signs accords for renewable energies development.
Environment, 11/23/2001
The Moroccan Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, Atlas mountains, on Thursday signed two cooperation agreements for the development of renewable energies. The first cooperation agreement signed was with InSpire Norway and BMCE Bank for technical and financial assistance to launch the University's incubator and research and development projects in the areas of renewable energies. The second cooperation agreement was with Enercorp and Somepi for the launching of a cooperation and research project in the area of wind power.
http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/011123/2001112317.html
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Moroccan MPs adopt $14.3-bln draft budget/2002.
By Ali Bouzerda
RABAT, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Morocco's 325-seat lower house of parliament has adopted a $14.3 billion draft budget for 2002 by a majority of votes, a parliament spokesman said on Sunday. The budget, which targets 4.5 percent economic growth and a 2.5 percent inflation rate was approved in a public session late on Saturday, the spokesman said. The overall budget will rise by around 0.85 percent to 165.7 billion dirhams ($14.3 billion) compared with the 2001 budget. The budget deficit is forecast at 3.0 percent and the current account deficit at around 1.0 percent. Some figures in the final version adopted by the house have registered a slight change compared with those released in October, when the government was discussing the draft law, the spokesman added. The budget will also be examined by the 270-seat upper house of parliament before a final adoption by the end of December. The cabinet of Socialist Prime Minister Abderrahmane El Youssoufi has forecast 2001 inflation at 2.0 percent, a 3.0 percent budget deficit and a 1.0 percent current account deficit. It also expects a 6.8 percent GDP growth in 2001, compared with a stagnation in the past two years due to drought effects. With a population of 30 million, Morocco has an estimated Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of 365 billion dirhams. The 2002 budget predicted that revenues would stand at 159.8 billion dirhams, while expenditure would be 165.7 billion dirhams, resulting in a deficit of 5.9 billion dirhams, down from an estimated 6.4 billion dirham deficit in 2001. Privatisation receipts would fall by 41.3 percent to 12.5 billion dirhams next year, from 21.3 billion in 2001. They reached a record $2.2 billion this year with the sale of 35 percent of national telecoms operator Maroc Telecom to France's Vivendi Universal . Next year, the Moroccan state plans to sell stakes in tobacco firm Regie des Tabacs, car assembly plant Somaca, Banque Centrale Populaire (BCP) and Maroc Telecom to local and foreign investors. The cost of foreign debt will be cut in 2002 by 0.25 percent to 14.8 billion dirhams, while domestic debt costs will jump by 16.5 percent to 31.8 billion dirhams. Domestic borrowing in 2002 is expected to rise by 5.18 percent from 2001 to 29.4 billion dirhams, while borrowing abroad would be up 4.27 percent to 6.3 billion dirhams. The North African country's foreign debt is estimated at $15.5 billion. ($1= 11.573 Moroccan Dirhams)
((Rabat newsroom, +212-37 720065 fax +212-37 722499, rabat.newsroom@reuters.com)
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Morocco Jan-Sept tourism receipts soar to $2.0 bln
RABAT, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Moroccan tourism receipts for the January-September period stood at 23.84 billion dirhams ($2.06 billion), up 43 percent compared with the same period in 2000, a tourism ministry official said on Tuesday. Receipts for the first nine months rose 80.6 percent compared with their average amount for the same period in the past four years, the official told Reuters. Tourism receipts, she added, were expected to slow down in the last quarter, like everywhere else in the world, in the wake of the September 11 attacks on the United States and Washington's military retaliatory action against Afghanistan. Morocco received 2.5 million foreign visitors in 2000 and aims to quadruple the figure by 2010. It is investing some $5.2 billion in six seaside resorts. ($1=11.587 Moroccan dirhams)
(Rabat newsroom, +212-37 720065 fax +212-37 722499, rabat.newsroom@reuters.com)
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Morocco eyes more investment in tourism sector
RABAT, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Morocco will continue its ambitious investment policy in the multi-billion dollar tourism sector in 2002 despite a world crisis triggered by the September 11 attacks on the United States, a government minister said. "Our interest in the tourism sector in the short term shows that Morocco rejects the fatality of the (international) crisis...We are determined to carry on investments in this vital sector to attract more visitors in the future," Finance Minister Fathallah Oualalou said late on Wednesday. Oualalou was speaking in the upper house of parliament during a presentation of the 2002 draft budget for a public debate. The budget targets economic growth of 4.5 percent. The draft was adopted last weekend by the lower house.
Oualalou said the September 11 attacks will have little impact on Morocco's overall economy next year. With a population of 30 million, Morocco has a gross annual domestic product worth an estimated 365 billion dirhams ($31.36 billion). Tourism is one of the North African country's main hard currency earners, together with remittances from Moroccan expatriates and phosphates and by-products exports. Morocco received 2.5 million foreign visitors last year and it registered a record $2.0 billion in tourism receipts in the January-September period this year, up 43 percent compared with the same period in 2000, official data showed. ($1=11.637 Moroccan dirhams)
(Rabat newsroom, +212-37 720065 fax +212-37 722499, rabat.newsroom@reuters.com)
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Contribution of banks to national economy up.
November 22, 2001
According to Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper (November 20, 2001), the Moroccan Central Bank (Bank Al-Maghrib) revealed that the banking associations of Morocco injected MD 214.72 billion ($19.4 million) into the Moroccan economy in the first nine months of 2001, up from MD 199.69 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year. These figures translate into a 7.5 percent growth rate. The central bank attributed this growth to various loans granted by the private sector during the same period. The value of these loans increased to MD 194.77 billion by the end of September 2001, a 6.3 percent rise compared with September 2000.
http://hoovnews.hoovers.com/fp.asp?layout=displaynews&doc_id=NR20011122670.2_94fd0000d4857746
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Moroccan economy on the upswing.
Moroccan authorities hope that the 6.1 percent growth rate, anticipated for the year 2002, will mark the beginning of a continued growth trend. The figure was calculated by the Centre Marocain de Conjoncture (CMC), based on marked financial trends of the current year. CMC attributed the expected upswing primarily to two government programs. The first, a $652-million project dealing with the nationís drought crisis, and the second ó a $609-million program aimed at boosting the national economy, financed by the Hassan II fund. The kingdomís trade deficit is predicted to drop in 2002, due to an anticipated increase in agricultural and phosphate related exports, expected to reach 7.8 percent that year. ó (MENA Report)
http://www.Menareport.com/story/TheNews.php3?action=story&sid=175180&lang=e&dir=mena
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