Morocco GDP rises 1% in Q3 as drought hits key farming sector

Morocco’s economy grew 1 percent year-on-year in the third quarter, compared to 4.8 percent in the same period in 2015, as a severe drought hit the dominant farming sector, the planning agency said.
The agency said it expected gross domestic product (GDP) growth to slow to 0.8 percent in the fourth quarter, a sharp drop on the 5.1 percent growth recorded in the same period a year ago. But it made no predictions for full year growth.
Agricultural output fell by 11.1 percent in the quarter after North Africa’s worst drought in decades. Morocco said in May it expected this year’s cereal harvest would plummet 70 percent to 3.35 million tons from 2015’s record 11 million tons.
Agriculture, the economy’s biggest sector, accounts for more than 15 percent of Morocco’s output.
The non-agricultural sector grew 2 percent in the third quarter from a year ago, up from 1.4 percent in the previous three months, the agency said.
Before Monday’s planning agency data the finance ministry had said it expected GDP growth of less than 2 percent this year compared to around 5 percent in 2015. 

The central bank expects 2016 growth to come in at 1.4 percent.
“The rise of remittances from the Moroccans living abroad by 4.2 percent and consumer credits has helped to increase household spending by 2.4 percent year-on-year, against 2.2 percent rise in the second quarter,” HCP’s statement said.
Domestic consumption has been an important engine of growth in the North African kingdom. Remittances have risen over the past four years by 3-4 percent annually on higher growth in Europe.

Source: Arab News