Morocco’s trade deficit grows by 5 percent, foreign exchange regulator says

Morocco’s trade deficit grew by 5 percent to 67.2 billion dirhams in the first four months of 2019, compared to the same period last year, reports Reuters, quoting Morocco’s foreign exchange regulator.

During the same period, the country’s imports rose to 4.7 percent, reaching 167.6 billion dirhams, while exports registered 100.3 billion dirhams moving by 4.5 percent. The Kingdom’s trade balance rose by 5.5 percent to 26 billion dirhams affected by energy imports.

Meanwhile, sales from the automotive sector represented 27.1 percent of the country’s exports with 27.7 billion dirhams. Phosphates exports reached 16.1 percent to 15.8 billion dirhams.

Remittances from Moroccans living abroad decreased 2.9 percent to 20.5 billion dirhams and foreign direct investments fell by 23.3 percent to 5.8 billion dirhams, concluded the British news agency.