World Bank predicts little economic growth for Morocco

The World Bank maintained on Tuesday its prediction of a 1.1 economic growth for Morocco in 2022 after recovery of 7.4% last year.

“In Morocco, growth is expected to slow significantly, to 1.1 percent in 2022, as persistent drought conditions and the impact of the war in Ukraine outweigh the expected services sector recovery,” the World Bank wrote in its June Global Economic Prospects report.

Inflationary pressures could force the central bank to raise rates, which together with changes in the monetary stance of advanced economies would tighten financing conditions for both the public and private sectors, added the same source.

Rising prices and decreasing agricultural revenues are expected to slow down the post-COVID-19 normalization of socioeconomic conditions, estimated the World Bank.

The Bank also slashed its estimate for global economic growth to 2.9 percent, 1.2 percentage points below the January forecast, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine which has caused a severe downturn.

“The world economy is expected to experience its sharpest deceleration following an initial recovery from global recession in more than 80 years,” the bank said in its Global Economic Prospects report.

The slowdown comes after growth recovered to 5.7 percent in 2021 following the downturn caused by the Covid-19 pandemic

“The war in Ukraine, lockdowns in China, supply-chain disruptions, and the risk of stagflation are hammering growth. For many countries, recession will be hard to avoid,” said World Bank President David Malpass. “Markets look forward, so it is urgent to encourage production and avoid trade restrictions. Changes in fiscal, monetary, climate, and debt policy are needed to counter capital misallocation and inequality.”