The purchasing power of Moroccan households improved during 2018 after adjusting its inflation rate to 1.9 percent in December 2018 from 2.3 percent in December 2017.
The country’s household income also improved, according to a report by the Department of Economic Studies and Financial Forecast at the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
The report pointed out that household consumption expenditure had positively developed in 2018, benefiting from the quality of agricultural crops.
It added that this development was reflected in the consumption surpluses, which rose by 6.1 percent, noting the improvement in household income during this period and highlighting in particular the one percent increase in wages and better employment.
In 2018, 126,000 jobs were created and the unemployment rate dropped to 9.8 percent, the report stressed.
Regarding companies, the report showed that the private sector’s investment effort continues to grow, taking advantage of the increase in the volume of bank loans by two percent in 2018, after recording 11.6 percent the year before.
It showed that imports of processed goods rose by 9.5 percent, while those of semi-industrialized products by 4.2 percent, in addition to the rise in foreign direct investment income by 34 percent.
Private sector companies have benefited from a significant decline in performance delays in government transactions, particularly since the government's enactment of the law on accelerating public sector deals implemented by private sector companies in 2017.
It also pointed out that these deadlines fell from 142 days on average in 2016 to 58 days in 2017and then to 39 days in 2018 in exchange for a fixed legal deadline within 60 days.
The report expected performance in this area to improve in line with implementing the measure on e-filing of invoices resulting from the completion of public transactions starting in May.
