Remittances to Morocco Drop 2.9% as Foreign Investment Plunges

Thus, at the end of last April, Moroccans abroad sent 20.5 billion dirhams to their country of origin, down 2.9% compared to last year.

The figures for foreign direct investment (FDI) are also in the red. Still according to the Office of Foreign Exchange, the flows have experienced a worrying drop of 23.3% at the end of last April, from 7.6 billion dirhams to 5.8 billion dirhams.

To explain this decline, the same Office cites a 15.6% increase in expenditure while FDI-related revenues fell to 10.666 billion dirhams, a decrease of 9.5%.

Regarding the net flow of Moroccan Direct Investments Abroad (LMDE), the reality is quite different. They amounted to 3.3 billion dirhams. This is equivalent to a 70.6% increase, for the months of January to April 2019. In addition, the resources invested in foreign investment expenditures have seen a 56.1% increase, for an amount of more than 4.4 billion dirhams. Meanwhile, revenues only reached 73 million dirhams.

In the case of travel receipts, they reached 22.67 billion dirhams, compared to travel expenses of 679 million dirhams, an increase of 13.1%, for the period from January to April 2019. Thus, compared to 2018, the travel sector experienced a 2% decline in 2019.