Reuters
by Aziz El Yaakoubi
Morocco’s trade deficit fell 20.1 percent to 128.64 billion dirhams ($12.90 billion) in the first 10 months of 2015 compared with a year earlier, thanks to lower energy costs as oil prices fell, the foreign exchange regulator said on Monday.
The trade gap was down from 161 billion dirhams at the end of October 2014. Energy imports fell by 30.8 percent from a year earlier to 56.64 billion dirhams, data showed.
Wheat imports also fell 33 percent as the local harvest hit a record high this year. The country’s total imports fell 6.6 percent.
Total exports rose 6.4 percent from a year earlier to 177.28 billion dirhams, led by a 17.8 percent rise in auto exports and 17 percent hike in phosphate sales.
Tourism receipts dropped 0.9 percent to 50.9 billion dirhams, while remittances from the 4.5 million Moroccans living abroad rose 43.8 percent to 52.52 billion dirhams.
Foreign direct investment jumped 14 percent to 29.20 billion dirhams. Figures are in billions of dirhams:
Jan-Oct Jan-Oct Jan-Sep
2015 2014 2015 EXPORTS 177.27 166.61 160.07 IMPORTS 305.91 327.62 273.36 BALANCE -128.64 -161.01 -113.29 MIGRANT REMITTANCES 52.52 50.59 47.48 TOURISM RECEIPTS 50.90 51.35 45.67 FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT 29.20 25.62 26.36
($1 = 9.9670 Moroccan dirham)
(Reporting By Aziz El Yaakoubi; Editing by Dominic Evans)
