Economic growth should stand at +2.4% in the first quarter of 2024, at an annual rate, instead of +3.5% during the same period of the previous year, according to the High Commission for Planning (HCP). “National economic growth would moderate in the first quarter of 2024. The recovery initiated at the end of 2023 would have encountered the return of the autumn drought,” explains the HCP in its economic update for the fourth quarter of 2023 and prospects for the first quarter of 2024. The start of the 2023/2024 agricultural campaign was characterized by a significant delay in the establishment of early crops, notes the HCP, noting that the rainfall deficit for the first four months of the campaign would have reached 53% compared to the same period of a normal agricultural season. On the same subject — » Economic growth at 2.8% in the third quarter of 2023 “Agricultural added value could, however, record an improvement of 0.5%, in annual variation, if rainfall conditions readjust to the regime of a normal season, particularly during the first quarter of 2024,” estimates the HCP. Excluding agriculture, growth should continue at a rate of 2.9%, driven by the continued progression of activities in secondary sectors, notably the chemical industries, the manufacturing of transport equipment and the automobile industry. The added value of the extractive industries should continue its recovery, showing an increase of 9.4% in annual variation, instead of -11.8% recorded a year earlier. As for services, their evolution would be more moderate, while retaining a significant contribution to economic growth, i.e. 1.6 points, compared to 0.5 points for the secondary sector.
source: industries.ma
