Morocco’s Trade Deficit Soars in April 2017

Increased imports and falling receipts from tourism and remittances by Moroccans living abroad have widened the trade deficit to 40.2 million dirhams, that is 36% rise compared to the same period last year.

The trade deficit stood at 29 million dirhams the same period last year, the Moroccan foreign exchange regulator said in its latest statistics.

Tourism receipts fell by 4.7 percent, while remittances from the 4.5 million Moroccan expatriates who live abroad fell 3.2% to 18.51 billion dirhams.

The trade gap was also widened by rising imports as spending on equipment rose 10.9% to 40.4 billion dirhams, while energy imports rose 47.8 percent to 22.66% dirhams.

For its part, foreign direct investment increased 4.5 percent to 7.79 billion dirhams.

Wheat imports fell 10.2% from a year earlier to 5.34 billion dirhams as abundant rainfall ushers a promising crop year.

Total exports rose 3.2% from a year earlier to 114.9 billion dirhams, bolstered by a 11.5% rise in phosphate exports totaling 14.2 billion dirhams.