After a strong recovery in 2021, the Moroccan economy is facing the effects of the slowdown in the global economy, a severe drought, the repercussions of the international geopolitical context and growing inflationary pressures which will probably lead to a significant slowdown in growth in 2022, explained Mr. Diaz Cassou during the round table dedicated to the presentation of the Monitoring Report on the economic situation in Morocco – The economic recovery is running dry.
And to note that the current shocks affect the budgetary and external balances, specifying that the price subsidies of butane, electricity and wheat and the various emergency measures adopted mitigate the impact of shocks on households.
As a result, the budget deficit is on the rise, even though Morocco still has better budget indicators than most emerging and developing economies, Diaz Cassou argued, adding, however, that Morocco is starting to face challenges. Intense inflationary pressures, but still somewhat more moderate than in other countries.
Recent droughts have been a powerful reminder of the exposure of the Moroccan economy to rainfall shocks. The new drought suffered by the Moroccan economy this year, one of the most severe, has damaged growth prospects in 2022 and shown that the level and distribution of rainfall have a direct impact on growth, he said. he lets know.
At the same time, Mr. Diaz Cassou insisted on the structural nature of the water shortage that Morocco will have to face in the context of climate change, noting that the succession of periods of drought in recent years suggests that we are no longer facing rainfall shocks like those of the past, but a problem of structural water stress that could cause great economic losses in the decades to come.
Infrastructure development is a necessary but not sufficient condition to address this structural water scarcity, he said, advocating the need for massive investment in water storage and irrigation and combine, following the example of international experience, effective water demand management policies with “engineered solutions” to deal with shortages.
