Moroccan Remittances Plummet 10% Amid COVID-19, Experts Warn of Prolonged Decline

"These difficulties are likely to last over time, to extend at least over the next two years and to be ten times more serious than those recorded after the 2008 financial crisis," says the Moroccan economist residing in France, Najib Soumi on the Awasser channel.

For the expert, this worst-case scenario should be at the heart of the concerns and forecasts of the Moroccan government. Similarly, the banking sector will have to play a key role in stemming this crisis by activating in particular the levers of deferring loan maturities and reducing the cost of money transfers, he suggests.

For his part, Abdellah Boussouf, Secretary General of the Advisory Council of Moroccans Abroad, calls for national solidarity towards the Moroccan community in the world. According to him, the cost of money transfers applied to Morocco is the most expensive in the world. He then demands that this cost be eliminated in these times of covid-19. "It is a matter," he says, "of the ability of our MREs to continue sending money to their loved ones, and of the country to perpetuate its foreign exchange reserves".