The North Africa Post
FDIs attracted by Morocco rose by 15.4% in 2017 to stand at 24.4 billion dirhams ($2.4 billion) compared to 21.2 billion in 2016, Morocco’s foreign exchange regulator, Office des Changes said.
In a recent report, the office noted that remittances by Moroccans living abroad increased 4.5% to hit 65.4 billion dirhams in 2017.
The Office noted that the trade gap widened to 190.2 billion dirhams against 185 billion dirhams a year earlier, adding that the coverage rate of imports by exports increased from 54.8% in 2016 to 56.3% in 2017.
Imports amounted to 435.2 billion Dirhams (+ 6.4%), while exports grew by 9.4% to 245 billion Dirhams, it said.
The increase in imports is due to a rising energy bill (+ 27.4%) and higher prices of raw products (+ 15.8%). Morocco reduced its imports of food products by 4.7%.
According to the Exchange Control Office, exports of the aeronautical sector grew by 20% while those of phosphates and by-products increased by 11.1%.
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