Morocco’s central bank, Bank Al Maghrib, said growth will reach 3.3% in 2018 and 3.5% in 2019, down from 4% last year. The bank kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 2.25%, as the financial conditions look stable since the launch of the gradual dirham float last January. Inflation was expected to reach 1.8% on average in 2018, then fall to 1.5% in 2019, the bank said in a statement following its first quarterly meeting of the year. Based on rainfall data and the situation of the vegetation cover as of March 10, Bank Al-Maghrib’s forecasts a cereal production of about 8 million tons compared to 9.6 million tons of cereals in the last crop year. Agricultural added value will increase by 2.3%, while non-agricultural activities are expected to grow by 3.2%, the central bank said.

Source: The North Africa Journal March 21, 2018 14:48 UTC