Over the past week, Morocco’s King Mohammed has been holding high profile meetings in Washington with US President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Collin Powell. Powell briefed the Moroccan monarch on his latest Middle East tour and asked the King for his views on the next steps in diplomatic efforts to curb Israeli-Palestinian violence. Among the ideas discussed was a regional peace conference to be attended by Arab and Israeli leaders.
For the Moroccan leader, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has become a central domestic issue. Earlier this month, a crowd of roughly one million people gathered in the capital city of Rabat, chanting slogans and waving Palestinian flags and banners. This official protest, backed by all of the country’s political parties, followed scores of unofficial demonstrations and strikes by high-school students throughout the country over the previous two weeks.
However, in spite of the priority placed on diplomatic efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Moroccan monarch has more pressing socio-economic concerns to resolve back home. Thus, the greatest achievement of the King’s visit to Washington is no doubt the announcement made by President Bush that the US will work to enact a free trade agreement (FTA) with Morocco. Following congressional approval, the FTA would phase out tariffs on Moroccan goods and award American exports preferential treatment in the North African state.
Difficult conditions in the tourism and agricultural sectors, both of which are labor-intensive, are another cause of concern for Morocco’s leadership. The tourism industry, which employs over 600,000 locals, has felt the impact of September 11. Tourism receipts fell to 1.19 billion Moroccan dirhams ($102 million) in January, down 43 percent from the Dh2.1 billion ($179 million) figure recorded in January 2001. Prior to last September, the tourism sector had been experiencing a two-year boom, with revenues rising 28 percent in 2001 to reach Dh27.8 billion ($2.38 billion).
Meanwhile, only 21 percent of Morocco’s agricultural land is in good condition, with the remainder afflicted by drought. Such conditions raise fears of a third consecutive year of production shortfalls in the sector, which makes up 20 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employs roughly half of its 10.3 million workforce.
As these two sectors continue to languish, Morocco’s recently released budget has been the target of widespread criticism. A group of 97 parliamentarians has lobbied the Constitutional Council to annul the budget, which has drawn heavy criticism from opposition parties and business groups. In addition, Standard & Poor’s disputes the financial assumptions underpinning the budget. According to the US ratings agency, Morocco’s budget deficit will be close to six percent, twice the level forecast by the government.
Moreover, privatization receipts are predicted to be much lower in 2002. Although the government plans to sell stakes in tobacco firm Regie de Tabacs, car assembly plant Somaca and Banque Centrale Populaire (BCP), privatization revenues are still expected to fall by over 41 percent from the record Dh25.33 billion ($2.2 billion) of last year.
Currently, 18 percent of the population lives below the poverty line of one dollar per day, and this number is rising as the tourism and agricultural sectors continue to suffer. While public protests now focus on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, they could soon switch to more local socio-economic concerns. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
