Investments to reach 25 percent of GDP in 2003

Employment promotion and improvement of living standards depend on the intensification of investments which are expected to reach 25 percent of the GDP in 2003, the Moroccan economy and finance minister said.

Fathallah Oualalou, who was addressing a meeting of the Caisse de Garantie, recalled the government's prime objective to post an annual growth rate of 5.5 percent. It is imperative to reach this rate to promote employment and improve living conditions, he said.

He noted that the government took a package of measures geared towards spurring investments and backing exports. The government, he added, also mobilized external financial resources to consolidate the national industrial sector, especially small and medium enterprises with a view to increasing their competitive edge to enable them take up the challenges of globalization.