Morocco targets 6% growth rate over 1999-2003

Morocco is targeting an average yearly growth rate of 6 % in the 1999-2003 five year plan it is elaborating, said Moroccan Minister of Economy and Finance Fathallah Oualalou in Muscat on Wednesday.

The statement came in a presentation on the Moroccan economy and on investment opportunities in Morocco made by Oualalou during a colloquy on the Moroccan economy held by the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry during the visit to the Sultanate by a 68-member Moroccan delegation, comprising managers of state-owned and private enterprises and ministerial departments officials.

Oualalou said Morocco's economy posted a 6.3% growth rate in 1998, inflation was curbed to 2.8% and the budget deficit was lowered to less than 3%. He added that after these results, the Kingdom embarked on modernizing its economy in a bid to face the challenges posed by globalization.

Oualalou also cited the 1999-2003 five year plan, under study, that aims to reach an average yearly growth rate of 6%, a savings rate of 25% of the GDP and an investment rate of 26% while maintaining the inflation below 2.5%.

The Kingdom equally ambitions to curb the budget deficit to 1.5% and the external trade deficit to a rate not exceeding 1% over the three coming years, Oualalou said, adding that efforts will be made to lower the foreign debt from the current 52% of the GDP to 40%.

Several members of the Moroccan delegation took the floor to expound on investment opportunities in Morocco and the promising perspectives of the Moroccan economy. They deplored the weakness of trade exchange between Oman and Morocco despite the existing cooperation possibilities.

Members of the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry on their part made presentations on the economic situation in the Sultanate whose exports are mainly made up of mining products and textile.