World Bank Praises Morocco’s COVID-19 Response and Economic Reforms

This report, which will be published on Tuesday, June 29 and is entitled: "Creating Momentum for Reform", states that the kingdom, after its initial efforts to mitigate the immediate effects of the pandemic on households and businesses, has engaged in various policies aimed at correcting long-standing inequalities and overcoming certain structural obstacles that have previously limited the performance of its economy.

Javier Diaz, a senior economist at the World Bank and author of the document, notes that the Moroccan government has launched a vast program of reforms based in particular on the creation of a Strategic Investment Fund (the Mohammed VI Fund) to support the private sector, the overhaul of the social protection framework to boost human capital and the restructuring of Morocco’s vast network of public enterprises. Furthermore, he recalls, a new development model has been designed in favor of human capital and gender equity, while reviving recent efforts to encourage private entrepreneurship and boost competitiveness.

The success of all these reforms will contribute to strengthening the national economy, the economist assures in his report. "We forecast that real GDP growth will rebound to 4.6% in 2021, supported by the good performance of the agricultural sector and a partial recovery of the secondary and tertiary sectors," he added before noting that in this scenario, real GDP would not return to its pre-pandemic level until 2022 and the cumulative production loss caused by the crisis would be significant.

However, the report points out, in the short term, the economic recovery could be gradual and uneven. Although activity resumed in the second half of the year, 2020 ended with the deepest economic recession ever recorded. However, the socio-economic impact of the crisis has been partly mitigated by cash transfers during the lockdown period. As for the mitigation measures adopted by the Moroccan authorities, their impact has been positive, but short-lived and have not been able to ensure that the benefits of the post-Covid recovery are more evenly distributed.