Moroccan economic growth 'insufficient' for job opportunities, WB official

The economic growth rate in Morocco, which is situated at 4%, and the structural reforms the country carries out are "insufficient" to create new job opportunities, said here Tuesday the World Bank Chief Economist for the Middle East and North Africa Region.

Mustapha Kamel Nabli said a growth rate of 6 or 7% is necessary for Morocco to counter the problem of unemployment, affirming that this is contingent upon "forwarding and deepening" the reforms program to foster a business climate and attract further private investments.

The WB official said cooperation relations between the international institution and Morocco are "active and positive." He noted that, besides the forms of assistance the Bank offers to Morocco in many a field, the WB is now drafting a report on the program (Country Assistance Strategy), which sets up the collaboration framework with Morocco for the next four years.

The Moroccan Finance and Privatization Minister, Fathallah Oualalou, had requested, in his meeting with WB Vice-President Christian Poortman, that this program take into consideration the achievements of Morocco in keeping the macroeconomic balance and pursuing structural reforms at the political, economic and social levels.

Nabli was speaking to MAP on the sidelines of the presentation of the WB annual report on "2005 Economic Evolution and Perspectives in the Middle East and North Africa," which points out that the economic growth rate in the region stood at 5.6% against 3.6% in the 1990s, due essentially to the upsurge in oil prices.

The report says that this growth rate remains insufficient for creating some 100 million job opportunities in the next 20 years to absorb the newcomers in the job market.