As exports slumped, Morocco’s trade deficit has widened by 3.8 per cent in January-March from a year earlier to $5 billion.
Exports tumbled 10.6% to 68.21 billion dirhams, the Foreign Exchange regulator said in a monthly report.
The imports dropped 5.1% to 117.34 billion dirhams in the first quarter when the world started to be hit by the impact of the coronavirus.
Travel receipts rose 2.3% to 16.85 billion dirhams but remittances from Moroccans living abroad dropped 4.7% to 14.53 billion dirhams and foreign direct investment slid 7.5% to 4.23 billion dirhams.
Morocco, which plans an international bond this year, drew this month on an IMF liquidity line of $3 billion to finance its balance of payments and offset a drop in foreign exchange reserves as the coronavirus hit exports, remittances and tourist arrivals.
By Reuters
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