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China-Africa Trade Information Service
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China-Africa Trade Information Service
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Morocco's Directorate of Studies and Financial Forecasts (DEPF) has said the production of electrical energy in the country witnessed a 6.2% increase at the end of the first 10 months of 2020, up from 4.5% a year earlier.
DEPF attributed the development to the good performance of private electricity production (5.5%), as well as the encouraging performance of the Moroccan Office of Electricity and Drinking Water (ONEE) (10.1%).
Renewable energies also contributed to the increase of electrical energy production by 3.9%, DEPF said.
In its economic report for December, DEPF said that compared to its pre-COVID crisis level, Morocco’s energy production has witnessed an improvement of 1.4% overall.
The report also noted an increase of 5.8% in terms of consumption of electric energy at the end of October, following a 10.1% increase a month earlier and a decline of 2.8% during the previous year.
The statistics cover an increase in sales of “Very High, High, and Medium Voltage” energy.
Moroccans' consumption of electrical energy increased by 2.8% compared to its pre-crisis level. Under these conditions, the volume of imported electrical energy dropped by 8.2% at the end of October after an increase of 38.7% a year earlier, DEPF showed.
Exported volume, meanwhile, increased by 33.8% after a decrease of 59.7%; at the same time, there was a 5.7% increase in the volume of net energy demand after a decrease of 2%.
Economic recovery
In its report, DEPF also reassured that national economic activity experienced a recovery this year, in large part thanks to the government’s post-COVID recovery plan and the ongoing vaccination campaign.
The positive development is also attributed to a bountiful agricultural season.
“The national economy showed signs of recovery from the second quarter of 2021, by recording a clear rebound of 15.2%,” DEPF said.
The recovery concerned the majority of economic activities at different rates.
However, several sectors are still suffering from COVID-19 repercussions, including tourism, air transport, among others, DEPF acknowledged.
The purchasing power of Moroccan households continues to grow thanks to a notable “improvement in income” generated by good outcomes from the agricultural season,” according to the DEPF report.
It explained that households’ purchasing power improved because of a 43.3% increase in money transfers by Moroccans abroad, as well as “the consolidation of recovery in job creation and the increase in consumer loans.”
Investment also experienced a boost with the rise in imports of capital goods, improved foreign direct investment receipts, and an increased budgetary investment.
DEPF noted that foreign trade also experienced an improvement as exports exceeded pre-COVID crisis levels by almost 10%.
“This performance concerns all sectors, more particularly that of phosphates and derivatives, automotive, food industry and electronics,” it concluded.
