The World Bank has approved a $450 million loan to Morocco to expand the availability of financial and digital services.
The World Bank indicated that this loan is the second financing in the program of support for the Moroccan government’s reforms, for the promotion of financial and digital inclusion, and for individuals and businesses.
“The COVID-19 crisis has had a disproportionate impact on the most vulnerable groups, including women, youth, informal workers, and small businesses,” said Jesko Hentschel, the director in charge of Maghreb countries and Malta at the World Bank. Hentschel also added that “improving access to financial and digital services, for these sections of society, has been essential to limit their social exclusion during the crisis.”
Last June, the World Bank announced the release of a $48 million loan to Morocco, to help it manage the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Until Thursday evening, the Maghreb country counted 525,443 cases of infection with the virus, including 9,225 deaths, and 512,487 remissions, according to data from the Moroccan Ministry of Health. The number of beneficiaries of the vaccination campaign which began on January 28 reached, until last Saturday, 9,372,000 people out of the 36 million inhabitants of the country.
In a report on June 10, the World Bank expected a growth of the Moroccan economy by 4.6% in 2021, higher than its previous expectations. The financial institution’s estimates are identical to the expectations of the High Commission for Planning (HCP): the body responsible for the production, analysis, and publication of official statistics in Morocco, and close to the expectations of the Moroccan Central Bank, which was 4.7%.
