Energy-exporting Gulf Arab states decided at a summit on Tuesday, 12/20, to set up a $5 billion fund to help development projects in aspiring Gulf Cooperation (GCC) members Morocco and Jordan, a final communique said. “The higher council agreed to set up a Gulf development fund, which starts with offering support for development projects in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the Kingdom of Morocco, to the value of $2.5 billion each,” the final communique said.
Morocco’s central bank said it held its benchmark interest rate at 3.25%, the lowest level in more than two years, as inflation remains “moderate” and amid concern about worsening growth prospects globally. “In this context, where the central inflation forecast is permanently consistent with the price-stability objective and the balance of risks is tilted to the downside, in conjunction with international developments, the board decided to keep the key rate unchanged at 3.25 percent,” the bank said.
Also, Morocco sees the return of inflation in November 2011. Consumer prices in Morocco rose 0.5 percent in November from a year earlier, rebounding after falling in October for the second time this year, data showed on Tuesday. Food prices rose 0.6 percent in November, data from the state’s High Planning Authority (HCP) showed. Underlying inflation, a gauge used by Morocco’s central bank to set the benchmark interest rate and which excludes state tariffs and volatile prices, rose by an annual 1.2 percent against a 1.1 percent rise in October.
According to Reuters, Morocco’s state-run phosphate monopoly OCP may tap international debt markets, the governor of the country’s central bank said on Tuesday, a few months after the world’s top phosphate reserve holder issued a maiden domestic bond. “OCP (Office Cherifien des Phosphates) has undergone the kind of (financial) restructuring that should allow it to tap the international debt market,” Abdellatif Jouahri told a press conference.
Politics
Reuters (12/20) – Moroccan Islamists quit Arab Spring-inspired opposition movement
Reuters (12/20) – Analysis: Arab Spring stretches “Islamist” tag to its limits
Yahoo (12/20) – Moroccan Islamists quit Arab Spring opposition
CNN iReport (12/20) – Protest in Morocco
News 24 (12/20) – Moroccan Islamists Quit Opposition
All Africa.com (12/20) – Morocco: ‘The Indignant’ Versus the Government
Real Clear World (12/20) – Moroccan Islamists quit Arab Spring opposition
African Times News (12/20) – Moroccan Islamists Quit Arab Spring Opposition
Max Security.com (12/20) – A Slow Death for Morocco’s Reformers
The Daily Star (12/19) – Moroccan Islamists quit Arab Spring opposition
IB Times (12/19) – Moroccan Islamists quit Arab Spring opposition
PBS Newshour (12/19) – Morocco Avoids Arab Spring Violence, but Progress Is Mixed on Reforms
Magharebia (12/19) – Youth unemployment tops Morocco priorities
The Sahara
Sahara Press Service (12/21) – Re-election of Mohamed Abdelaziz as secretary general of the Frente Polisario
Morocco Board (12/20) – Insecurity in the Sahel: The Western Sahara conflict and The Polisario Factor
Morocco Board (12/19) – Western Sahara: Document Details Repression in Camps
Economy/Business
Reuters (12/21) – Morocco cbank raises 2011 budget deficit estimate to 5-5.5 pct/GDP
The Daily Star (12/21) – GCC creates $5 bln support fund for Jordan and Morocco
Daily Markets (12/21) – Morocco Central Bank Holds Interest Rate At 3.25%
Market Watch (12/21) – American Eagle Outfitters Continues International Expansion in Three New Markets. Stores Now Open in Jordan, Morocco and Egypt
Reuters (12/20) – Gulf states approve $5 billion aid to Morocco, Jordan
Reuters (12/20) – UPDATE 1-Morocco sees the return of inflation in Nov
Reuters (12/20) – Morocco OCP may tap international debt market –cbank
Reuters (12/20) – Moroccan cbank forecasts GDP growth of 4-5 pct in 2012
Bloomberg Businessweek (12/20) – Morocco Central Bank Maintains Interest Rate at 3.25%
Bloomberg Businessweek (12/20) – Gulf countries set up $5b fund for Jordan, Morocco
CNBC (12/20) – Gulf countries set up $5b fund for Jordan, Morocco
Middle East Online (12/20) – GCC creates fund for development plans in Jordan, Morocco
Fresh Plaza (12/20) – Citrus production Morocco increases by 6%
Opalesque (12/20) – Morocco’s brand new financial hub holds many promises
Society/Culture
Get Hampshire (12/21) – Sugar and spice and all things nice in Morocco
Magharebia (12/20) – Marrakech to host entrepreneurship conference
World/MENA Region
The National (12/21) – GCC tells Iran to ‘stop meddling in our affairs’
The Daily Star (12/21) – Notice that the Arab Spring is really more of a Big Bang
Arab News (12/21) – GCC leaders back call for union of Gulf states
Travel Daily News (12/21) – Courtyard by Marriott announces its second hotel in Algeria
Times of Malta (12/21) – The year of the Arab Spring
Dawn.com (12/20) – The Arab Islamist Wave
Hotel News Resource (12/20) – 198-room Courtyard by Marriott to Open in 2014 in Setif Algeria
Daily Mail (12/20) – The terrifying truth behind the so-called Arab Spring
KHL.com (12/20) – North Africa’s Bright Future
Foreign Policy (12/19) – Sustaining Mechanics of Arab Autocracies
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