Rabat, Morocco (TMT)- During the monthly Q&A parliamentary session held yesterday, the Prime Minister of Morocco, Aziz Akhenouch, painted a grim picture of the current economic situation Morocco is currently facing, urging all members of parliament “to be truthful with the Moroccan people about the current state of the country.”
He acknowledged that the severe drought witnessed in 2022 “is the strongest of its kind in four decades” and compared it to “the heart attack years of 1981 and 1995, for which Morocco underwent a structural adjustment program,” explaining that “when the report of the World Bank was issued, the king at that time called it a heart attack.”
Akhanouch stressed that the country is witnessing the ramifications of “an imported inflation, but there is no heart attack.”
He urged people to remember the past 10 to 12 years “when inflation was absent and agricultural products and meat were abundant.”
Akhannouch explained that “the drought has disrupted the red meat supply chain, which will take two years to restore balance.”
He also noted that “cows struggle to produce high-quality milk when they have not had enough rain and pastures for four years and are not at the desired weight.”
The Prime Minister emphasized that there are “periods in the agricultural sector that are beyond control and affect crop productivity and agricultural product prices.”
He also addressed the negative impact of the COVID health crisis “on the animal sector and, as a result, the red meat and milk supply chain.”
The Moroccan Times.
