Bank Al-Maghrib confirma un aumento de las remesas de Marruecos en 2021
Bank Al-Maghrib has predicted an increase in Moroccan remittances that represent a new economic record for the Alawi kingdom. Specifically, these remittances from abroad have grown by 39%, which means that transactions worth 94.7 billion dirhams have been recorded.
This comes in the wake of the coronavirus health crisis that is affecting all countries, both in the employment sector and in the inflation of nations. Despite this and the economic pressures on the costs of sending money to Morocco. Payment rates are currently between 10 and 12%, which is exorbitant, but despite this, remittances remain one of the essential sources for sustaining the economy. This money is good news as the bank's forecasts since its last reports in October this year were for 87 billion dirhams.
But it is not all good news, and experts predict that next year the bank's forecasts for these transfers will be down by 23%, which means a collection of 72.8 billion dirhams. In 2023, these remittances are expected to continue to fall by 2 %, meaning a collection of 71.4 billion dirhams.
Meanwhile, the bank says that travel incomes will also be affected by the end of this year due to the border closures caused by the new variant of COVID-19, which has forced the authorities to take swift decisions to protect the Kingdom against this virus. In economic terms this will mean a 9.2 % drop in revenue, with a collection of 33.1 billion dirhams alone compared to other years. The current account deficit was 1.5 % of GDP in 2020, so this year it is estimated at 2.5 %. For the coming years, it is expected to reach 5.3 % of GDP in 2022 and 4.9 % in 2023, respectively.
Meanwhile, the bank says that travel incomes will also be affected by the end of this year due to the border closures caused by the new variant of COVID-19, which has forced the authorities to take swift decisions to protect the Kingdom against this virus. In economic terms this will mean a 9.2 % drop in revenue, with a collection of 33.1 billion dirhams alone compared to other years. The current account deficit was 1.5 % of GDP in 2020, so this year it is estimated at 2.5 %. For the coming years, it is expected to reach 5.3 % of GDP in 2022 and 4.9 % in 2023, respectively.
It is worth noting that, despite the expected declines in subsequent years, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has predicted that Morocco will become one of the most dynamic economies in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The international body expects the Kingdom to grow by 6.3 % in the last quarter of this year. The health crisis has weakened several important sectors of the economy, but the national government has been able to compensate for this economic collapse with measures to stimulate the economy, resulting in a boost to the export sector, which will contribute to improving and maintaining the country's cash flow.
Another take-off in the Kingdom's economy, in the words of the IMF, is due to the great success of the vaccination campaign, which, despite being excessively costly, has led to things becoming much more normalised, and this is beginning to alleviate the economic and social effects of the coronavirus health crisis. Inflation is also expected to begin to decrease as production cost pressures on goods imported into Morocco fall, then the economy will gradually return to normality.
Added to this is the new 2022 finance law launched by the Moroccan government, which the Minister of Economy and Finance, Nadia Fettah, says will mainly target the employment, education and health sectors, and will affect this economic recovery in a good way, as the measure is expected to have a public investment of 245 billion dirhams.
The Fund, in turn, forecasts economic growth for the country of 3 % due to the agricultural season and an economic recovery of non-essential activities that are closed and halted by COVID.
