Morocco's Trade Deficit Widens to 16.3 Billion Dirhams as Imports Outpace Exports
The trade deficit reached 16.3 billion dirhams at the end of January, an increase of 1.7%, with a coverage rate of 59.8% recorded. A slight increase in imports to 40.7 billion dirhams was also noted, compared to 24.3 billion dirhams for exports.
A 56.7% drop in imports of semi-finished products and raw materials, of iron or non-alloy steel wires, bars and profiles was noted; but on the other hand, a 3.2% increase, reaching a rate of 25.3% for the supply of capital goods.
The surprise would come from the automotive sector, with a stagnation of shipments, according to the newspaper l’Économiste. "The share of wiring in these exports stands at 42.3% at the end of January, up 0.9 points compared to the same period last year. Automotive construction is at 40.8%, down 5.1 points from the previous year".
While noting that the 1.2% increase is due to the increase in exports of agriculture and agri-food (+2%), textiles and leather (+3.6%), aeronautics (+2.7%) and the pharmaceutical industry (+35.6%), it is also noted that sales of phosphates and derivatives (-10.7%), the mining extraction sector (-43.3%) and electronics (-4.3%) were the sectors most decimated by the trade deficit. The same goes for foreign direct investment, which fell by 32.2%.
