Morocco weathered world economic storm, says IMF
Morocco, Economics, 6/26/1999

Prudent policies allowed Morocco to weather last year's world economic storm, said the International Monetary Fund on Friday in a statement summarizing a June 9 review of the Moroccan economy.

During the last three years, the IMF said, inflation remained stable below 3%, external deficit did not exceed 1% of the Gross Domestic Product and the situation of reserves improved.

However, the organization noted, agriculture dependence on weather conditions resulted in a fluctuation of production while the average growth of non-agricultural sectors reached around 3% during the 90's. This was not enough to curb unemployment (19% in urban areas).

In 1998, the statement went on, as agriculture production improved, Morocco's GDP reached 6.3%, boosted also by an increase in tourism receipts and private investments.

The IMF praised a prudent macroeconomic management and steady progress in implementing structural reforms as factors that helped the country preserve internal and external stability during the recent world financial turmoil.

The IMF analysts also agreed with Morocco's ambitious mid-term strategy that seeks to promote growth, reduce poverty and unemployment and improve social conditions. They stress that these goals cannot be attained without ambitious measures to restore the budget balance and the carrying on structural reforms.

They also hailed the authorities' plan to reform civil service, by cutting expenses and improving the administration performance, as well as intentions to reform the system of generalized subsidies to food products.

The Moroccan government forecast that growth will slow to 0.2 percent due to a severe drought.

Previous Stories:
  Moroccan unionist leader decries government's coldness in handling social problems   (6/25/1999)
  Moroccan government accelerates privatization process   (6/18/1999)
  Unemployment rises to 21 percent in Morocco's urban areas   (6/18/1999)
  Moroccan records progress on Y2K bug   (6/16/1999)

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