Morocco's trade deficit dropped by 26 percent in the first quarter of the year 2002, reaching 7.4 billion Moroccan dirhams ($668 million) compared to the correspondent period the previous year, in which the deficit totaled Dh10 billion, according to preliminary figures released by the kingdom’s foreign trade bureau.
Moroccan exports have risen nearly four percent in 1Q02. At the same time, imports to the North African state have dropped six percent. As a result Morocco's total foreign trade transactions have dropped by two percent to Dh48.59 billion as of the end of March 2002, compared to the same period in 2001.
In the first three months of the current year, foreign private investments and loans totaled Dh650 million, a significant drop from the Dh26.1 billion registered in 1Q01. The fall was mainly attributed to the Dh23 billion cashed in February 2001, the receipts from the partial privatization of national carrier Maroc Telecom. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
