Economy

With a production of 6.8 tons of saffron in 2018 and an area of 1,800 hectares cultivated, Morocco is the fourth largest producer of saffron in the world.
The kingdom is far behind Iran, which currently controls 90% of world production with some 180 to 185 tons per year, reports the MAP. India and Greece follow.
A rare and highly valuable commercial spice, saffron is used as a condiment in the preparation of traditional dishes and as a dye for fabrics, and has many medicinal properties. (…)

The tourism sector in Morocco continues to be in the green with a strong increase in the number of foreign tourists during the first eleven months of 2018.
Thus, according to figures released by the Tourism Observatory, 11.3 million tourists visited the kingdom between January and November, an increase of 8.5% compared to 2017. Arrivals of foreign tourists are up 15% and Moroccans of the world by 2%.
In detail, arrivals from Italy increased by 15%, from Germany 8%, from France 8%, from (…)

As provided for in the Finance Act, the price of cigarette packs has increased since yesterday, Tuesday, January 1, 2019.
These increases can reach up to 4 dirhams per pack. For example, Marlboro box goes to 35 dirhams, up 2 dirhams, Marquise is now billed at 21.5 dirhams, up 1.50 dh, Marquise classic sees its price increase by 50 cents.
Very popular with low-income smokers, Casa will go to 20 dirhams, compared to 16 dirhams previously.
The price of other packs remains unchanged, such (…)

The dirham remained virtually stable against the euro during the week of December 20 to 24, according to Bank Al-Maghrib (BAM).
During this period, the Moroccan currency appreciated by 0.12% against the European currency and 0.06% against the dollar, according to a note on the weekly indicators published by BAM.
As of December 21, net international reserves stood at 228.2 billion dirhams (MMDH), up 0.7% from the previous week, while year-on-year they show an increase of 4.6%.
As for (…)

The tourist allowance will increase to 45,000 dirhams per year starting January 14, the Foreign Exchange Office said in a statement.
This allowance will increase to "45,000 dirhams per calendar year with a 10% supplement on income tax, all capped at 100,000 dirhams," the office specifies, which has just taken several measures to relax and liberalize several current operations, including travel, imports or exports of goods and services.
The advance payment of goods imports increases to (…)

"This growth was driven by domestic demand in the context of a still-controlled rise in inflation and a significant increase in the financing needs of the national economy," the HCP said, according to which the primary sector recorded growth of 4.1% compared to 13.4% a year earlier.
The secondary sector showed a volume growth rate of 3% instead of 3.2% in 2017, according to the note on the national economic situation in the 3rd quarter of 2018.
As for the value added of the tertiary (…)