Minister of Economy blamed dry season

Morocco's Minister of Economy and Finance, Mohammed Bou Said, stressed that Morocco witnessed a sharp decline in the growth rate due to the dry season in the country, in 2016, explaining that the 2015 record a growth rate of 4.5 percent, but the growth rate in 2016 stopped at 1.6 per percent, due to decline of the rainfall, in which Moroccan agriculture depend on.

The 2015 record, according to official figures, grew by 4.5 per cent, thanks to the increase of high agricultural value added by 12.8 per cent, especially grain production, in addition to increasing the total non-agricultural domestic production by 3.5 per cent.the country towards the unknown destiny, The minister said in an exclusive statements to Arabs Today.

The decline in grain production as the most important agricultural products in the country, because 2016 is the most driest years in the past three decades, which led to a decline in this production by about 70 per cent, compared to the partial strong performance in other agricultural sectors with a high added value.

The forecast of Morocco's central bank for growth for 2016 declined to 1.2 per cent, after it had ranged between 1.5 and 2 per cent, due to the damage to the agricultural sector, and a slowdown in GDP.
The minister revealed that the deficit in the state budget reached 3.9 per cent of GDP by 2016, compared to 4.2 per cent, in 2015.