Adil Douiri: Morocco, "The urgency is not to consume but to produce"
Adil Douiri former tourism minister under Driss Jettou and current president of the Alliance of Istiqlalian Economists warns that the fundamental the national economy are under threat. He warned that "there is risk of a macroeconomic accident if we do not change the course of economic policy."
Source : https://www.marocafrik.com/english/Adil-Douiri-Mor...
For Adil Douiri "the pilot of the Moroccan economy must concentrate, in a more intense way, on the foreign exchange reserves, including exports of goods and services and, more broadly, on a transitional phase from 3 to four years, "he said.
He called for a slowdown, through trade barriers, on increased imports of consumer goods, to support the export sector, and preserve foreign exchange reserves to more than four months of imports The main threat to stability in the country is linked to Moroccan foreign trade. The latest figures, show that the deficit in the Moroccan current account has reached 64.6 billion dirhams, equivalent to 7% of GDP.The threat is the imbalance of Moroccan foreign trade. The situation has been worsened by the rise in oil prices and the crop failure of nearly 50% due to climatic conditions.
The delay in implementation of sectoral plans with Green Morocco, Morocco Numeric, Plan Azur ( that he oversaw as Minister)... so many programs that were supposed to accelerate economic growth and stabilise the current account. Morocco the Istiqlalians suggest is missing about 4 to 5 years compared to the objective, which is 50 to 60 billion DH behind our annual exports of goods and services, he said , L'Economiste reported .
"I'm not saying that the plans were poorly done, the planning was good, but it's operationalisation was very slow and poor," notes the former Minister of Tourism. Increasing consumer imports boosted by artifially enhanced middle class purchasing capacity have added to the balance. His solution is to cut imports of consumer goods and to halt public sector support for tourism development and the Plan Emergence replacing it with private sector investment concentrating on completing projects already in hand rather than starting new ones. The aim must be to increase foreign exchange reserves by increasing revenue.
The most difficult aim to achieve proposed by Mr Diouri is slowing imports because consumer goods help fuel the economy. European economies and indeed America and China depend on growing consumer economies.
Morocco has never exported as much as it imports. Although exports have shown a considerable increase the main driver of the Moroccan economy remains agriculture. The Moroccan private sector definitely needs to grow but it is still not large enough. Tourism, seriously affected by the global economic downturn is unlikely to deliver short term economic growth, although longer term as regards Vision 2020 the prospect is more promising. The Plan Azur which Mr Diouri oversaw as Minister, was based on international private sector development which in some circumstances could not stand the pace even then. However, Mr Diouri's warning over the level of foreign exchange reserves and the need to increase exports and the profitability of current projects are well made.
He called for a slowdown, through trade barriers, on increased imports of consumer goods, to support the export sector, and preserve foreign exchange reserves to more than four months of imports The main threat to stability in the country is linked to Moroccan foreign trade. The latest figures, show that the deficit in the Moroccan current account has reached 64.6 billion dirhams, equivalent to 7% of GDP.The threat is the imbalance of Moroccan foreign trade. The situation has been worsened by the rise in oil prices and the crop failure of nearly 50% due to climatic conditions.
The delay in implementation of sectoral plans with Green Morocco, Morocco Numeric, Plan Azur ( that he oversaw as Minister)... so many programs that were supposed to accelerate economic growth and stabilise the current account. Morocco the Istiqlalians suggest is missing about 4 to 5 years compared to the objective, which is 50 to 60 billion DH behind our annual exports of goods and services, he said , L'Economiste reported .
"I'm not saying that the plans were poorly done, the planning was good, but it's operationalisation was very slow and poor," notes the former Minister of Tourism. Increasing consumer imports boosted by artifially enhanced middle class purchasing capacity have added to the balance. His solution is to cut imports of consumer goods and to halt public sector support for tourism development and the Plan Emergence replacing it with private sector investment concentrating on completing projects already in hand rather than starting new ones. The aim must be to increase foreign exchange reserves by increasing revenue.
The most difficult aim to achieve proposed by Mr Diouri is slowing imports because consumer goods help fuel the economy. European economies and indeed America and China depend on growing consumer economies.
Morocco has never exported as much as it imports. Although exports have shown a considerable increase the main driver of the Moroccan economy remains agriculture. The Moroccan private sector definitely needs to grow but it is still not large enough. Tourism, seriously affected by the global economic downturn is unlikely to deliver short term economic growth, although longer term as regards Vision 2020 the prospect is more promising. The Plan Azur which Mr Diouri oversaw as Minister, was based on international private sector development which in some circumstances could not stand the pace even then. However, Mr Diouri's warning over the level of foreign exchange reserves and the need to increase exports and the profitability of current projects are well made.
Source : https://www.marocafrik.com/english/Adil-Douiri-Mor...