Morocco Trade Gap Widens 35.8%

Morocco’s trade deficit rose 35.8% to 40.23 billion dirhams ($4.14 billion) in the first quarter of 2017 compared to a year earlier, the exchange office announced, Albawaba reported. The office said that the trade gap increased from 29.62 billion dirhams in the same period last year, with spending on equipment imports rising 10.9% to 40.4 billion dirhams, while energy imports rose 47.8% to 22.66 billion dirhams. Wheat imports fell 10.2% from a year earlier to 5.34 billion dirhams, while total exports grew 3.2% year-on-year to 114.9 billion dirhams due to a 11.5% increase in phosphate exports reaching14.2 billion dirhams. Tourism revenues fell 4.7% and remittances from the 4.5 million Moroccans living abroad fell 3.2% to 18.51 billion dirhams, while foreign direct investment rose 4.5% to 7.79 billion dirhams.