The Moroccan parliament recently approved a draft budget for the year 2002, carrying a 5.9 billion Moroccan dirham ($518 million) deficit. The 2001 budget, in comparison, is expected to result in a MD6.4 billion deficit. The national budget anticipates MD159.8 billion ($14.3 billion) revenues and MD165.7 billion expenditures.
The 2002 budget forecasts MD12.5 billion in privatization receipts, mainly generated by the planned sale of Maroc Telecom, Banque Centrale Populaire (BCP), car assembly plant Somaca and tobacco manufacturer Regie des Tabacs. Last year, privatization revenues were 41.3 percent higher, at MD21.3 billion.
The Moroccan government revised the budget downwards following the September 11 attacks on the US, calculating a 4.5 percent growth rate for 2002, instead of the more optimistic 6.5 percent figure released earlier. Morocco’s 30-million strong population generates an estimated Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of MD365 billion. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
