RABAT: Morocco's trade deficit rose 14.3 percent to 133.58 billion dirhams ($13.7 billion) in the first nine months of 2016 compared with the same period a year ago, due to higher imports, the foreign exchange regulator said on Monday.
Equipment imports rose 22.1 percent to 84.93 billion dirhams, while auto imports were 39 percent higher at 10.7 billion dirhams, the data showed.
Wheat imports also jumped as bad weather hurt the local harvest this year, up 32.2 percent from a year earlier to 9.25 billion dirhams at the end of September.
The North African kingdom's energy import bill fell 22.7 percent to 39.44 billion dirhams compared with a year earlier, thanks to lower prices in the international market.
Morocco is the biggest energy importer in the region. Total exports rose 1.3 percent from a year earlier to 164.82 billion dirhams, led by a 11.7 percent rise in auto exports. Phosphate sales fell 14.1 percent to 29.66 billion dirhams.
Tourism receipts rose by 5.8 percent, while remittances from the 4.5 million Moroccans living abroad were 4.5 percent up to 48.28 billion dirhams.
Foreign direct investment fell 19.7 percent to 23.11 billion dirhams.
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