Rabat - A 20.4 per cent increase in phosphate sales has reduced Morocco's trade deficit by 37.2 per cent.
The trade gap has narrowed to 20.5 billion Dirhams by the end of February against 32.64 billion dirhams a year earlier, latest figures from the Exchange Office have revealed.
The Office Cherifien de Phosphate (OCP), the world's leading phosphate exporter, has exported MAD 5.2 billion worth of phosphates, an essential ingredient for producing fertilizers, and its derivatives by the end of February, 2015, compared to MAD 4.3 billion during the same period of last year.
Imports decreased by 15.2 per cent moving from 63.18 billion dirhams to 53.56 billion Dirhams.
The decrease in imports was mainly due to the falling oil prices which also led to a decline in the country’s imports of energy (93.8% of the total decline of imports).
Exports increased by 8.2 per cent. In addition to the increase in sales of phosphates and derivatives (20.4), the rise in exports was also led by a +MAD 10, 1 rise in auto exports and 10.4% in agriculture and the agri-food sector
The Foreign exchange regulator said that tourism receipts declined 8.2 per cent, while the remittances of Moroccans living abroad have increased by 6.9 per cent to reach 9.48 billion Dirhams by the end of February compared to 8.86 billion Dirhams during the same period a year earlier.
Direct foreign investments in Morocco were down 15.2 per cent from 4 billion Dirhams to 3.4 billion Dirhams between February 2014 and February 2015. This is mainly due to a 13.9 per cent decrease in revenues which exceeded the decrease in expenditures (-8.9 per cent).
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