Moroccan Household Spending Slumps Amid Economic Uncertainty and Job Market Woes

This decline is justified not only by the loss of income related to the health crisis that has eroded their purchasing power, but also by the high level of uncertainty and the situation in the labor market, reports L’Économiste.

As for household spending, it should experience a decline in the 1st quarter of 2021 against an increase in purchases of food and manufactured goods compared to the 4th quarter. As for spending on catering and transport, they have declined slightly.

As for leisure spending, it continues to be penalized by the crisis. According to the same newspaper, Moroccans do not intend to spend their savings in the midst of a pandemic but rather after the crisis.

The same source specifies that "the expiration of certain support measures and the persistence of the crisis could lead to an increase in bankruptcies, which were hitherto alleviated by the liquidity made available to companies. This situation should impact the unemployment rate, already at 12.7%, slow down household consumption and penalize private investment. The newspaper also recalls that liquid investments amounted to 46 billion dirhams in current and savings accounts for a total outstanding amount of 620 billion dirhams at the end of November.