Trade deficit eases by 12.4% to end-February 2024

The trade deficit narrowed by 12.4% in the first two months of 2024, to 41.75 billion dirhams (MMDH), according to the Office des Changes.

This easing reflects a 1.4% drop in goods imports to 115.5 MMDH and a 6.1% rise in exports to 73.75 MMDH, according to the Office des Changes in its recent bulletin on monthly foreign trade indicators. The coverage rate gained 4.5 points to stand at 63.9% at the end of February, according to the same source.

The fall in imports was due to a 13.7% drop in raw products to 4.93 million dirhams, an 11.6% fall in energy products to 18.59 million dirhams, and a 4.3% drop in food products to 14.57 million dirhams, combined with a 4.4% rise in finished consumer goods to 25.53 million dirhams, a 3.8% increase in semi-finished products to 25 million dirhams, and a 0.6% rise in finished capital goods to 26.73 million dirhams.

Meanwhile, the Office des Changes reports that exports of aeronautics rose by 18.7% to 3.89 MMDH, the biggest increase, ahead of automobiles (+12% to 24.27 MMDH), phosphates and derivatives (+8.2% to 11.67 MMDH) and electronics and electricity (+6.6% to 3.9 MMDH). Exports of “Textiles and leather” and “Other mining” stood at 7.32 million dirhams (-1.7%) and 690 million dirhams (-20.3%) respectively.