Rabat, Morocco: Mr. Kenji Okamura, Deputy Managing Director of the International monetary Fund (IMF), issued the following statement today in Casablanca at the end of his visit to Morocco:
"My visit to Rabat and Casablanca has been very productive. It was my first visit as the IMF's Deputy Managing Director to Morocco, which will host this year the IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings in Marrakesh. I am grateful for the warm hospitality of the people of Morocco and look forward to a remarkably successful Annual Meetings in October. The visit was an opportunity to learn first-hand from the authorities about their excellent preparedness to host the largest IMF/World Bank gathering on their soil.
"I wish to thank Governor of Bank Al-Maghrib Abdellatif Jouahri and Minister of Economy and Finance Nadia Fettah Alaoui and their teams for our constructive discussions. I commended them for their strong policy response to numerous recent shocks, including the impact of COVID-19 and Russia's war against Ukraine, and for the critical reforms they have undertaken to help strengthen and diversify the Moroccan economy.
"During my visit, I also had the opportunity to engage with the students of a school in Casablanca and see the progress that Morocco's education system has achieved in the last few years. Ensuring that all Moroccan children can access high quality education is one of the challenges the country faces today as it moves towards a more inclusive and resilient economy. We at the IMF strongly emphasize the importance of education as an engine of development and inclusion. In Casablanca, I also met with representatives of the private sector to better understand the challenges and prospects facing the Moroccan economy and its financial sector.
"The meetings I had during these days confirmed Morocco's resilience to the many shocks experienced since 2020, including the Covid-19 pandemic, the fallout from Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and two severe droughts. This resilience owes much to the authorities' timely response that has mitigated the economic and social impact of the shocks. Even in this difficult context, the authorities have accelerated the implementation of their structural reforms agenda and took bold measures to extend social protection to all Moroccans, improve the health care and education systems, boost private sector development, and face the challenges that changing climate conditions are posing to Morocco.
"The Fund has been actively engaged with Morocco, including through four successive Precautionary and Liquidity Line (PLL) arrangements. Earlier this week, the Executive Board of the Fund has discussed in an informal session a request from the Moroccan authorities for a two-year arrangement under the Flexible Credit Line (FCL) with the IMF in an amount equivalent to SDR 3.7262 billion (about 417 percent of quota, or US$5 billion). This credit line helps safeguard against external shocks by providing countries with upfront access to IMF resources with no ex-post conditionalities. Considering Morocco's very strong policy frameworks and track record, the IMF Managing Director intends to recommend approval of the FCL arrangement for Morocco when the Executive Board meets again to take a decision in the following weeks,
"The IMF remains committed to continuing to help Morocco face the risks from the highly uncertain global environment and to support its efforts to achieve a more resilient and inclusive model of development. The Annual Meetings in Marrakesh are another testament to our strong and deep partnership."
