Morocco’s trade deficit has worsened by 14.7% in the first quarter of this year, compared to the same period of 2003 when the deficit was worth 12.2 billion DH (US$ 1.35 million), said the Exchange Office.
According to MAP, the source ascribed this to a rise of 7.5% in imports that reached 35.7 billion DH (US$ 3.9 billion) and a less important increase in exports which amounted to 27.7 billion DH (US$ 3.07 billion) as of March 2004.
More generally, Morocco’s trade deals with foreign countries amounted to 57.4 billion DH (US$ 6.3 billion) compared to 54.25 billion DH (US$ 6.07 billion) in 2003.
Morocco’s oil bill went up by 64.9% between the first quarter of 2003 and the first quarter of 2004, from 1.62 billion DH (US$ 180 billion) to 2.68 billion DH (US$ 297.7 billion). (menareport.com)
© 2004 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
