MOROCCO – The African Development Bank (AfDB) has released its latest economic projections for Morocco, estimating the country’s GDP growth will return to 4% in 2021.

African Development Bank, noted in its statement, that the projections on Morocco’s GDP growth was based on the assumption that economic activities will fully return to normal next year.

AfDB further projects that “budget and account deficits will improve from 4.8% to 5.3% and from 4.2 % to 5.3% of GDP, respectively.”

Morocco, like many other African economies, has been adversely affected by the raging COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 crisis, according to a report by Morocco World News, directly affected Morocco’s economy due to the suspension of activities in several sectors, including the industrial sector and tourism.

The crisis forced the Morocco’s government to amend its 2020 finance bill to better cushion the economy against the prevailing economic challenges.

The African Development Bank, in its economic outlook report, also hailed Morocco’s effective and largely successful strategy in combating the COVID-19 pandemic at the medical and social levels.

“The 2019 World Health Security Index places Morocco 68th out of 195 countries and 4th place in Africa. It is therefore one of the countries best placed to face a health crisis,” the AfDB report said.

AfDB further lauded Morocco’s health sector for being “sufficiently prepared to treat sick patients” and to protect health professionals.

Through concerted efforts by the Moroccan governments and its citizen, the country has been able to manage the COVID-19 crisis quite well, recording one of the highest daily recoveries (677) in June, bringing the total number of recovered patients to 11,316.

In the economic outlook report, AfDB also lauded the Morocco’s decision to set up a special fund to enable the acquisition of medical equipment to cope with the health crisis.

The country’s decision to produce face masks to meet national demand also earned Morocco international recognition.

AfDB also expressed satisfaction with Morocco’s approach in creating field hospitals in several cities, with the support of Morocco’s army, to host COVID-19 patients.

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