Morocco trade deficit falls 5.3 pct in first half

Morocco’s first-half trade deficit narrowed by 5.3 per cent from a year earlier to 97.53 billion dirhams ($11.5 billion), the foreign exchange regulator said on Monday.

The country’s imports decreased by 3.2 percent because of the economic slowdown while exports fell only at 0.9 per cent.

Energy products imports dropped 8.3 pct, tourism receipts rose 2.1 percent, and remittances from the 4.5 million Moroccans living abroad decreased slightly, by 0.5 per cent.

Figures are in billions of dirhams