Morocco cuts budget deficit to 6% of GDP in 2021

Thanks to an economic recovery and better tax revenue, the Moroccan government reduced its fiscal deficit to 6% of GDP in 2021 from 7% a year earlier, the finance ministry said.

The deficit stood at 70.9 billion dirhams, down from 82.3 billion dirhams in 2020, a year in which Morocco imposed a three-month long lockdown and saw an increase in state spending in a context of pandemic and drought.

But this year, tax revenue offset a surge in social spending as Morocco braces to generalize health insurance and boost job creation.

The Moroccan statistics agency HCP said Morocco’s economy grew 7.2% last year after a contraction of 6.3% a year earlier. It expects the economy to grow 2.9% this year.