The IMF welcomes the “targeted measures” adopted by Morocco to mitigate the soaring prices

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday hailed the “targeted measures” adopted by Morocco to relieve the economy in the face of soaring energy prices.

“The Moroccan government is today undertaking a set of targeted measures, including support for the transport sector of people and goods to relieve the rise in energy prices on production”underlined the director of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) department, Jihad Azour, during a press conference on the regional economic prospects.

He also noted the measures taken to “expand the range of support put in place during the pandemic to alleviate the impact on certain social categories, in addition to the work in progress to renovate social policy and actions aimed at reviving the economic sectors most affected by the health crisis, including aviation and automotive industry.

In 2022, Morocco had to face the drought which had a ” negative impact “ on the agricultural campaign just as it suffered, like the rest of the world, the consequences of the Ukrainian crisis, which caused a surge in the prices of raw materials, including oil, also recalled Jihad Azour. He further mentioned “the indirect impact of this crisis on the markets with which Morocco maintains close commercial ties, like European countries”.

According to the IMF, these factors prompted the Bretton Woods institution to lower, in its semi-annual report on “World Economic Outlook” published last week its growth projections for the Moroccan economy at 1.1% in 2022 against 3% previously forecast. During his press conference, the director of the IMF for the MENA region insisted on recalling that the Moroccan economy, which has been “very affected” by the pandemic in 2020, was able to recover quickly in 2021.” It is probably one of the countries that has had one of the fastest recoveries.”he said, pointing out that this revival is the result of“Important measures taken by the Moroccan government. »

“Morocco was one of the first countries in the region, outside the Gulf Cooperation Council, to succeed in its vaccination campaign, as the government and Bank Al-Maghrib initiated a series of measures to protect the sectors in order to secure the ability of institutions and businesses to resume their economic activities.he said.

For the IMF official, these actions have facilitated the resumption of economic activity while allowing the Kingdom to access global financial markets at rates “very favourable”.