Page 1 - Weekly highlights 6690

VEND. 26, SAM. 27 & DIM.28 JANVIER 2024 - N°6690 NE PEUT ÊTRE VENDU SÉPARÉMENT DÉPÔT LÉGAL 100/1991 DIRECTEUR DE PUBLICATION KHALID BELYAZID
Weekly highlights by

Renewable energies

A boost for investment

Water stress
The new roadmap

Judicial map
Transition

in the courts

L’Economiste-Sunergia
survey
Water, electri-
city...The match

between cities

Social Security
agency
Eight Moroccan

Last-chance
AI talents in top
amnesty
laboratories

Editorial Scroungers Ahlam NAZIH

H AS inflation finished creating nightmares for households and govern- ducer had predicted an inflation rate measured by the GDP deflator of just 1.9%
ments? Analysts expect deflation to continue this year. But nothing is (published in January 2023). In the end, the rate was 4.5%. For 2024, the HCP
less certain.
expects 2.8%. However, once again, nothing is certain.
In Morocco, households have rediscovered inflation through two years of excep- Geopolitical tensions continue to mount. Prices for sea freight (which accounts
tional peaks. In 2022, the country recorded a rate of over 6% (exactly 6.6%), a for more than 80% of world trade) have already rocketed due to Houthi attacks in
level not seen since 1995. For 2023, the forecast was for a much lower rate, bet- the Red Sea, and drought is still with us... And «freeloading» operators continue
ting on a lull in commodity prices and a drop in demand linked to the rise in the to take advantage of the situation to impose disproportionate prices.
key interest rate. In the end, these predictions were proved wrong. The year 2023 The fight against inflation cannot be limited to raising the key interest rate and
closed with an inflation rate, measured mainly by the consumer price index, of dissuading demand. Direct aid to the most vulnerable households could ease
6.1%, according to the High Commissioner’s Office for Planning (HCP) (12.5% their burden somewhat. However, it is imperative to activate new levers, starting
for food products). This is a heavy blow for an economy whose growth is largely by blocking the way to the scroungers who make their money on the back of
driven by domestic consumption. For the same year, the national statistics pro- households.o