Blog

The Moroccan Economy in Brief: Tuesday, January 19, 2021

Boujdour: MAD 27 million for under-equipped neighborhoods:
The upgrading of under-equipped neighborhoods in the city of Boujdour will require an envelope of MAD 27.49 million. The project was launched on Sunday by the Minister of National Planning, Urbanism, Housing and Urban Policy, Nouzha Bouchareb. This program, which will be carried out over a period of 24 months, will benefit from a contribution of the Ministry estimated at MAD 25.49 million.

Reserves: Year-on-year increase of 22.8%:
The dirham appreciated by 0.51% against the euro and depreciated by 0.80% against the US dollar during the period from January 7 to 13, according to Bank Al-Maghrib (BAM). As of January 8, 2021, the outstanding official reserve assets (AOR) showed, from one week to another, a decline of 3.8% to reach MAD 308.8 billion, the Central Bank said. This decline, BAM points out, is mainly linked to the early repayment of part of the drawdown on the precautionary and liquidity line (LPL) in the amount of 651 million SDRs (Special Drawing Rights), equivalent to nearly MAD 8.4 billion. Year-on-year, however, AORs rose by 22.8%.

Port traffic: More than 92 MT registered at the end of December 2020:
Despite a difficult year marked by the Covid-19, the port activity ends the year 2020 with a growth of 5.1%. This is revealed by the latest statistics of the National Ports Agency which shows a total volume of 92.5 million tons (MT) of traffic transiting through the ports managed by the Agency. The ports of Mohammedia, Casablanca and Jorf Lasfar concentrate 71.9 million tons (MT), which constitutes 77.7% of port activity. Thus, the port of Jorf Lasfar encompasses 37.1 million tons by the end of 2020. "The port of Jorf Lasfar confirms its first place with a share of 40.1% of total traffic. Compared to the year 2019, this port recorded an increase of 4.5%, mainly due to the strong rebound in exports of fertilizers (+36.1%), imports of cereals (+28.2%), sulfur (+12.1%), sulfuric acid (+31.4%) and ammonia (+17.5%)," the same source indicates.

With an envelope of $8 million: Morocco launches the construction of a research center in intelligent networks:
Located within the Green Energy Park in Benguerir, a research center dedicated to smart grid themes will be created before the end of this year. This project, whose construction work was launched last Friday, is the result of a partnership between the Research Institute for Solar Energy and Renewable Energies (IRESEN) and the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) in Benguerir, with the support of the Ministry and the technical and financial support of the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA). It will host about forty researchers with as many PhD students and has the main feature of integrating state-of-the-art laboratories coupled to the power grids of the solar village.

Tetouan : More than a MAD billion to develop and widen the banks of the Oued Martil:
To help the city of Tetouan and the plain of Martil to protect itself against any risk of flooding, while seeking to instill a new economic and social dynamic on the territory. This is the main objective of the project to develop and widen the banks of the Oued Martil and its tributaries over a length of 18.3 km. With an overall budget of more than one billion dirhams, this project is the result of a partnership agreement, the provisions of which have just been approved during the last extraordinary session of the Regional Council of Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima (CR-TTA).