The North Africa Post
Remittances of Moroccans living abroad, one of the main source of foreign exchange reserves in Morocco, grew by 4% in the first eleven months of 2017 to stand at 60.2 billion dirhams ($6.5 bln), while FDI flow in the country grew by 13.2% to 21.8 billion dirhams over the same period compared to 19.3 billion dirhams last year.
The figures were released by Morocco’s foreign exchange regulatory authority, L’Office des Changes.
Over the same period, Morocco’s trade deficit deepened by 3.6% compared to the same period last year with the trade gap totaling 173.2 billion dirhams against 167.2 billion dirhams a year earlier, the source pointed out
The coverage rate of imports by exports reached 56.4% during the same period, the office said, noting that imports amounted to 396.9 billion Dirhams (+6.9%), while exports grew by 9.7% to 223.7 billion Dirhams.
The increase in imports is ascribed to a soaring energy bill (+28.6%) and higher prices of raw products (+14%), the office said, noting that Morocco reduced its food imports by 4.3%.
According to the Exchange Control Office, exports of the aeronautical sector grew by 16.5% while those of phosphates and by-products increased by 11.8%.
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