The Moroccan Economy in Brief: Friday, August 18, 2017: Morocco-Australia: Prelude to a New Era of Bilateral Relations
1. The State Wants to Be Covered Against Drought to Heal Its Finances: "The rainfall hazard is the bane of agriculture in Morocco. It is very disabling for public finances that the government is seeking a climate parametric insurance mechanism. The scheme must provide compensation to the State in the event of drought in order to facilitate its appropriation." 2. Masi Is Progressing on Small Volumes: "The flagship market index closed the Friday session on a positive note. It rose by 0.62% to 12,326.17 points. The indices for the distribution, construction, oil, banking, and agri-food sectors finished in increase. Real estate and mining companies, on the other hand, ended in decrease. For its part, the aggregate of the most liquid values recorded an increase of 0.63% to 10,077.23 points. The annual gains are increased to 5.86% for Masi and 5.55% for Madex. At the closure of Friday's session, the market capitalization amounts to 613 billion dirhams." 3. Morocco-Australia: Prelude to a New Era of Bilateral Relations: ""The opening of an Australian embassy in Rabat marks the beginning of a new era in relations between Canberra and Rabat, as it paves the way for closer collaboration on different segments of bilateral cooperation: political, strategic, economic, and cultural," underlines Ms. Berenice Owen-Jones, Ambassador of Australia to Morocco. "In Morocco as in Australia, there is a real political will to strengthen bilateral ties and seize opportunities for a win-win partnership," she congratulated in an exclusive interview with MAP, the first granted to an organ of the Moroccan press, since her appointing to this position last May." 4. Foreign Trade: Energy Bill Rises Again: "The trade deficit widened in July to reach 111 billion dirhams against 103.9 billion in the same period last year. Although exports have progressed by 7.1%, they did not keep pace with the value of imports which increased by 7%. With a value of 251.8 billion dirhams, imports account for nearly double the amount of outside sales whose diversification is too slow." 5. Some 6.7 Billion Dirhams Devoted to the Program to Reduce Territorial and Social Disparities: "The program for the reduction of territorial and social disparities in Marrakech-Safi for the period 2017-2022 was at the center of a meeting at the headquarters of the Wilaya in Marrakech last Tuesday. This meeting, which was chaired by the Wali of Marrakech-Safi region, Abdelfettah Labjioui, in the presence of the members of the regional commission in charge the support and follow-up of this program, aims to review and approve the action plan in accordance with the objectives set." Crédit : IMPERIUM MEDIA
