Morocco's economy up to global economic challenges, minister

Morocco's economy is in a position to rise to the global economic challenges thanks to the structural reforms initiated by the Kingdom, said, here Thursday, Moroccan Finance Minister, Salaheddine Mezouar.

    Morocco is faced with an "enormous challenge", namely that of soaring prices of food staples, but the crisis has been contained thanks to the preservation of the pace of growth, whose rate is expected to stand at around 6.8%, the minister told the Moroccan TV channel (Al Oula).

    He noted, in this regard, that huge efforts have been made to subsidize food products in order not to undermine the purchasing power, he said, adding that the budgetary deficit is expected to be contained below 2.3%.

    At the international level, we are facing a deep financial crisis which has turned into an economic crisis that will affect all economies of the world, he said, recalling that the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have said, in a recently published report, that the developed countries will be the hardest hit by the crisis, while the impact will be limited in the developing countries.

    The minister also noted that the report showed that the growth rate in Morocco will drop by a mere 0.2%, adding that according to the IMF’s estimates, the Kingdom has all the potentialities to address the global economic crisis and preserve the growth pace.

    Regarding the financial market, Mezouar who described as “normal” the fluctuation that the Casablanca stock exchange recently witnessed, underscored the importance of investors’ confidence as well as the need to keep in check the mechanisms of the stock market, which come down to four major axes.

The first is the fact that 98% of foreign investments in Morocco are continuous and stable, while the second is related to results achieved by businesses quoted on the stock exchange list during the first semester of the year, he said.

    The third is linked to the climate and the economic and sectoral dynamic of the companies listed on the stock exchange, while the fourth lies in the ability of public authorities to control the key equilibriums of the national economy.

    In this respect, he noted that indicators suggest that all equilibriums of the Moroccan economy have been kept in check, and that results achieved since the start of the year have surpassed expectations.

MAP