Morocco’s Ministry of Finance to hold emergency meeting on impact of Russia-Ukraine conflict on economy

Government spokesperson Mustapha Baitas announced that a meeting will be held this Thursday, March 10, between various public and private organizations to study the economic and monetary impacts of the crisis in Ukraine on the Moroccan economy.

“A meeting will be held this Thursday evening between the Minister of Economy and Finance, the National Confederation of Entreprises, Bank Al-Maghrib and the Office of Foreign Exchange, to study the possible impacts on our economy,” said the minister.

After this week’s government council, the official reiterated Morocco’s position on the conflict, saying “the Kingdom firmly stands behind the territorial integrity of all UN member states,” and “stands against violence as a means to resolve disagreements.”

The official said that “Morocco’s absence from the United Nations’ General Assembly vote last week was explained, and should not be misinterpreted beyond what the executive already explained.”

Baitas additionally said the Ministry of Higher Education is “currently exploring the possible scenarios related to the repatriated Moroccan students from Ukraine,” which will either include facilitating the students’ studies in countries neighboring Ukraine, or their inclusion into Moroccan universities.

In regards to Morocco’s soft wheat imports in light of the European armed conflict, Baitas once again assured citizens that “the impacts will be restricted to prices, whereas the supply will not be affected.”

Morocco supplies 11% of its soft wheat needs from Ukraine, whereas it purchases 25% from neighboring Russia.

According to the official, “Moroccan soft wheat imports from Ukraine were set at 8.7 million pounds, 6.5 million of which Morocco has already received, which means that the difference in supply is rather low, and can easily be purchased from other exporters.”

When it comes to imports from Russia, the government spokesperson said that “Morocco did not depend on Russian wheat imports this year, due to a weak agricultural season in the European country.”