Morocco economy rebounds with strong growth: IMF

Morocco’s economy has rebounded with GDP in 2021 projected to grow 6.3 percent on the back of a rapid response to the coronavirus pandemic, the International Monetary Fund said Friday.

“Thanks to a very successful vaccination campaign and the prompt response of the authorities, the health crisis has been placed under control and the Moroccan economy is rebounding,” said Roberto Cardarelli, head of an IMF mission at the end of virtual talks with Rabat since November 30.

“Economic activity has recovered most of the ground lost during the severe global recession of 2020, which hasn’t spared Morocco,” he said in a statement. “This performance owes to continued fiscal and monetary stimulus, the rebound of exports, buoyant remittances and the exceptional harvest after two years of drought,” he said.

“After shrinking 6.3 percent in 2020, GDP is forecast to grow by 6.3 percent in 2021,” among the highest in the Middle East and North Africa, Cardarelli said. The economic recovery is expected to continue, “although the pandemic will leave some scars,” he said, projecting growth of about three percent in 2022 “as agriculture output returns to average levels and non-agricultural activity continues to recover.”

The IMF called for “a fast and effective implementation of structural reforms.”

Following elections in September, the new government of Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch, a liberal businessman, says it aims to narrow the wealth gap in Morocco, where unemployment is running at almost 13 percent, according to the central bank.