RABAT Dec 20 (Reuters) – Morocco’s central bank forecast on Tuesday that the economy will grow by 4-5 percent next year, matching a revised growth forecast for this year.
It trimmed its growth estimate for this year from 4.5-5.5 percent, citing a slowdown affecting the country’s trading partners, chief of which is the the European Union.
Bank al-Maghrib kept its benchmark lending rate at 3.25 percent on Tuesday, the same level it has been at since March, 2009, citing a central inflation forecast that “seems consistent with the price stability objective”.
The European Union is Morocco’s main economic partner accounting for close to two-thirds of the country’s overseas trade and is a source of both tourists visiting the country and transfers by some 2 million Moroccan migrants who live in the EU. (Reporting By Souhail Karam)
