Morocco closed the year with new data that continue to endorse the growth of the country presided over by Aziz Akhannouch. The last two months of last year saw the Moroccan dirham grow by 1.08% against the dollar, according to data published in the Monthly Report on the Economic, Monetary and Financial Situation issued by the Central Bank of Morocco.

The Moroccan economy continues to grow

Rabat continues to leave great data in economic terms, and the trend invites optimism for 2024. In addition to the gain of the dirham against the dollar, the Moroccan currency has also gained against the euro, which, although it remains at 0.16%, is still positive for the Kingdom.

The interbank market data are also positive. There has been an increase of more than 91% in the volume of currencies exchanged for dirhams. The total figure amounts to 77 billion dirhams in November alone. In the same period, spot purchases amounted to 27.5 billion dirhams and forward purchases to 21.1 billion dirhams.

These data are described by the BCM as "intriguing" in terms of the trend. Last year, the figures at the same time were considerably higher, at 41.7 billion dirhams and 37.2 billion dirhams respectively. This is very similar to the decline in sales transactions.

From more than 44 billion dirhams to 29.4 billion dirhams this year, in terms of spot sales. Forward transactions have not exceeded five billion dirhams, which is almost a third of last year's volume, when they came close to exceeding 14 billion dirhams.

Good data that invites investment

If this latest report has made one thing clear, it is that Morocco is managing to combine a period of stability with significant economic growth. This boost to the financial sector is attracting a lot of attention from European countries, especially Spain, where more and more investors are planning to land.

One of the most striking areas is the field of renewable energies, especially in view of the growth in Morocco's hydrographic capacity. It has doubled in the last year, and is expected to continue to increase, thanks in large part to the desalination project that Rabat has been working on for some time.

According to the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water, it is one of the star projects that aims to avoid the drought forecast for this year - when temperatures are expected to rise sharply. Morocco hopes that by 2030, 50% of Morocco's drinking water will come from desalination plants. To achieve this, a plan has been approved for the construction of these plants to reach a total production of 1.4 billion cubic metres within six years.

According to the government's plan, "coastal cities will be equipped with desalination plants, within the framework of a public-private partnership". In addition, a plan has been drawn up with a solidarity-based approach between coastal and inland cities. In this way, the aim is to expand the sources of drinking water and, above all, to relieve pressure on reservoirs, whose water "will go to inland regions, the rural world and the agricultural sector".