Despite the deadly earthquake that shook Morocco on the night of Friday, September 8, the Moroccan authorities wish to host the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB), scheduled for October in Marrakech.
The Moroccan economy is expected to grow by 2.5% this year before recording 3.3% in 2024, according to the latest figures published by the World Bank. These figures are mainly due to the resilience of the tourism and automotive sectors.
In 2023, Morocco will have to face significant economic challenges, according to the High Commission for Planning (HCP). Experts from this institution estimate that economic growth will only reach 3.3% this year, below the government’s forecasts.
More than 5% of the Moroccan population are threatened by rural exodus by 2025 due to the severe drought the country is experiencing, according to the World Bank.
The World Bank has made several recommendations outlined in its latest report on Morocco’s Climate and Development Country Report (CCDR).
A loan agreement in the amount of 236.7 million euros was signed on Monday by the Minister of Economy and Finance, Nadia Fettah Alaoui and the Director of the Maghreb and Malta Department at the Regional Office for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) of the World Bank (WB), Jesko Hentschel.
The World Bank’s International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) ruled in favor of Morocco in the dispute that has opposed it since 2019 to the German steel group Scholz. This dispute will have lasted more than three and a half years.
Morocco is threatened by "water stress", regular rainfall deficits and drought, the World Bank has warned, stressing that these factors will have a "serious" long-term impact on the kingdom’s economy.
Some 77% of Moroccan borrowers turn to friends and family rather than banks. This is revealed by the World Bank’s 2021 Global Findex survey.
The World Bank will grant an additional loan of $100 million to the city of Casablanca to accelerate its development support program, initiated in 2017, and whose financing has been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The World Bank has this week granted a new $500 million loan to Morocco , to support its human capital strengthening program.
The performance of the Tanger-Med port allows it to climb to 6th place out of 370 ports listed worldwide, according to the World Bank’s container port performance index.