Morocco on 7 April drew down its full $3bn ‘Precautionary Liquidity Line’ from the IMF. Like other countries, it is struggling to tackle the social and economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The north African country is gearing up for a major impact on its key tourism sector which directly accounts for 8% of its GDP (MEES, 20 March).
A report on the effects of Covid-19 prepared by the World Bank and UN in March and released in early April says a “baseline scenario shows GDP could recede by 1.5% in 2020”. But it could be much worse. Like much of the rest of the world, Morocco has been in lockdown since 20 March. So far, more than 700,000 people have lost their jobs. (CONTINUED - 975 WORDS)
