Inflation in Morocco is expected to reach 6.6 percent this year, according to Reuters. The Bank Al-Maghrib (“BAM”), Morocco’s central bank, raised its benchmark interest rate today by 50 basis points to 2.5 percent in an effort to control inflation, according to the report. Today’s rate hike is the second this year. In September, BAM raised its benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points to two percent—the first rate hike in 14 years, according to Morocco World News.

Prior to the pandemic, tourism contributed about seven percent to Morocco’s GDP, according to the OECD. The Arab Weekly, quoting the Ministry of Tourism, reports that the number of tourists arriving in Morocco fell by 79 percent in 2021 and 71 percent in 2020, compared to 2019. In November, the Moroccan government announced that the North African nation’s tourism recovery rate had reached 80 percent at the end of October 2022. On December 12, Hilton Worldwide announced the opening of the 120-room Conrad Rabat Arzana—the first Conrad brand in Morocco and Hilton’s sixth property in the country.

Last Updated on December 20, 2022 by Ramin Seddiq