Foreign Trade Ministry measures to remedy trade deficit

Encouraging investment in exports, concluding free trade agreements, and pursuing trade negotiations especially with African countries, are among the measures the Ministry of Foreign Trade has taken to limit trade deficit, said Tuesday, Morocco's Minister Mustapha Mechahouri.

Speaking at the House of Advisors (upper house),question time, Mechahouri explained that the trade deficit, which has stricken the Moroccan economy during the first two months of 2005, is due to the upsurge of imports, primarily because of the escalading oil prices; and the fall of exports, owing essentially to the rude competitiveness of Moroccan traditional markets, the end of the quota system in textiles last January and the instability of the Euro against the US Dollar.

To remedy this problem, the Minister said the strategy of his department consists in taking incentive measures such as exempting indirect exporters from fiscal taxes, programming economic and trade missions in favor of exporters, and organizing or participating in trade fairs in targeted markets.

During January and February 2005, Moroccan imports have increased by 4%, (plus MAD 932m, Euro 84.7m), while exports plummeted by 9.3%, (minus MAD 1.3b, Euro 118.1m), which brought the trade deficit to MAD 11.4b (Euro 1.03b).