In its latest “MENA Economic Outlook”, the international financial institution has revised downwards its growth forecasts for the Moroccan economy previously announced in January, which were in the order of 3.2%.
“The growth forecasts for April 2022 could be influenced by the unexpected shock of the outbreak of war in Ukraine, contrary to the forecasts of January 2022,” explains the World Bank, which states that “the growth rates of oil-importing countries are revised downward due to the anticipated increase in the cost of importing energy and food products.
The Bretton Woods institution also estimates that inflation, after a rate of 1.4% last year, should reach 4% in 2022 in Morocco, before returning to 1.8% in 2023.
Entitled “Reality Check: Growth Forecasts in the Middle East and North Africa Region in a Period of Uncertainty”, the latest WB Economic Newsletter refers to “an uneven recovery, with regional averages masking large differences”.
“Increased uncertainty surrounds this forecast due to the war in Ukraine and the continued threat posed by COVID-19 variants,” it says.
At the same time, the World Bank highlighted Morocco’s effective government response to assist vulnerable families during the health crisis. “Indeed, the Tadamon cash transfer program in Morocco has far exceeded its initial target of informal sector worker households, reaching nearly 80% of the Kingdom’s population, with one of the highest rates of coverage expansion compared to pre-Covid-19 levels,” the Bretton Woods organization’s report notes.
In addition, the World Bank notes that only one-third of developing countries in the MENA region have vaccination rates higher than those of countries of comparable level, noting that Morocco is “at the top” of this ranking, with more than 60% of the population vaccinated.
In contrast, the report notes, countries such as Algeria have vaccinated only about 15% of their population.
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