Morocco

Stock stability despite fluctuating trade, expectations of economic growth in 2014...

Casablanca Stock Exchange saw, at the end of the transactions in last day of January, stability in the Green Zone of its two main indexes. “MASI” gained 4.44 points to reach 9,140.11 points, and “MADEX” rose by about 0.01 points to reach 7,429.79 points. 19 companies, out of 44 companies participating in the trade, saw an increase in stock prices, 20 companies saw a decline, and the stock prices of 5 companies remained unchanged. The market capitalization gained about 241 million dirham to reach 452.263 billion dirham, compared to 452.022 billion dirham during the penultimate session in January. The value of stock transactions increased to about 57.59 million dirham, compared to 33 million dirham. Moroccan exports rose 6.7 % in 2013 valued at 145.7 billion dirham (except phosphate and its derivatives) compared to 136.5 billion dirham recorded in 2012. This result was achieved since the auto industry increased by 23.3% and the size of the agricultural and food industry sector by 3.4 %; similarly, the exports of the aviation industry recorded a rise of 14.7 %. In contrast, imports fell by 2% in 2013, after it saw a rise of 8.2 % in 2012 and 20.1 % in 2011. This decline contributed to the decrease of food bill by 6 billion dirham and energy bill by 4.2 billion, and the increase of the capital goods and semi-finished product imports. The number of tourists in Morocco reached 10 million and 46 thousand tourists during 2013, with an increase of 7 % from 2012. Morocco is a major tourist destination for Europeans whom percentage increased to 40 %. Rabat is seeking to increase the number of its tourists to 20 million tourists per year by 2022 due to the favorable climate that prevails in the Kingdom of Morocco visa- vis the political tensions that are invading the neighboring countries and the region as a whole. Morocco trade with the European continent was largely affected due to the worsening economic crisis. Business dealings went down with France, the first trade partner in Europe and globally, by 34 % in 2013 and the volume of trade shrank to 66 billion dirham after it was 87 billion dirham in 2012. Morocco’s exports have fallen by more than 10 billion dirham and the volume of trade with Spain by more than 15 billion dirham. Moroccan exports to Spain recorded a decline by 3.1 billion dirham.