Transfers by Moroccans living abroad (MRE) reached more than $7.44 billion during the first nine months of this year, compared to nearly $6.62 billion in the same period during the previous year

Aumentan las remesas de los marroquíes residentes en el extranjero en más de un 16% respecto a 2021

photo_camera PHOTO/REUTERS - Central Bank of Morocco in Rabat

The national strategy for Moroccans in the world aims to contain the profound changes experienced by Moroccan international migration with the emergence of a new generation of legitimate expectations and complex policy issues, according to the head of the government, Aziz Akhannouch. Moroccan institutions also report that Moroccans living abroad (MRE) have been saving for two years, as they have been unable to return to Morocco in many cases because of the pandemic. Especially in the last months of 2021 when, due to the rapid spread of the Omicron variant, the Moroccan authorities decided to close the borders of the Kingdom so that no one could leave or enter, except in special cases of repatriation. The Central Bank of Morocco claims that this will result in a 9.2% drop in money inflows.

In addition, other issues that could explain the increase in remittances could be investment in the Kingdom, or the absence of "unofficial" channels for transferring funds. MREs are the top contributors in foreign investment in securities of Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS), with an amount of $927 million in 2021, or 39.6% of the total amounts invested, according to the Moroccan Capital Market Authority (AMMC).

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According to the latest monthly indicators of foreign trade, the Office specifies that these transfers recorded a growth of 11.6% compared to last year at the end of September 2021. These indicators also show that travel receipts, under the effect of the recovery, more than doubled from USD 2.3 billion at the end of September 2021 to USD 5.75 billion at the end of September 2022, and are more than 136% higher than in 2020. However, expenditures still remain at pre-pandemic numbers that are even worse than in 2018. Thus, the excess travel balance almost tripled, standing at more than USD 4.65 billion at the end of September 2022 compared to only USD 1.6 billion a year earlier.

Operation Crossing the Strait (OPE) has exceeded 400,000 passengers embarking for North Africa after reaching 422,456 passengers up to 13 July, 16.8% more than on the same date in 2015. According to the data offered by Civil Protection, the two ports of the Cadiz region of Campo de Gibraltar, Algeciras and Tarifa, account for 63.2% of these. From Algeciras 142,319 travellers set sail for Tangier-Med, in Morocco, and 83,041 for Ceuta, while 75,905 travellers set sail from Tarifa for Tangier City.

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The third port in terms of passenger embarkation figures is Almeria, with 65,561 people embarking on the three lines connecting with North Africa, making it the port with the greatest increase in passengers compared to the previous OPE, with 33%.

Spain is the country with the most active MREs in the world, welcoming, for example, thousands of seasonal workers. It is not only in Spain where MREs seek new business opportunities, in Libya more than 5,500 people benefited, between 24 and 28 October, from the services of the mobile consulate deployed in Tripoli for the benefit of the Moroccan community established in Libya. More than 1,000 civil status services were provided, as well as 3,000 passport-related services. In addition, some 2,500 services related to the national electronic identity card (CINE) were carried out, while 800 certificates were delivered to Moroccans residing in Libya.

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