Transfers from Moroccans living abroad (MRE) increased by more than 40% during the first quarter of 2021, compared to the same period last year. A boon for the Moroccan economy and households.
If there is one part of the national economy that is resisting the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic well, it is the inflow of foreign currency from Moroccan expatriates. Moroccans living abroad (MRE) sent more than 20.89 billion dirhams during the first three months of this year, against 14.73 billion dirhams during the same period in 2020, an increase of 41.8 %, indicates the Foreign Exchange Office in its bulletin on foreign trade indicators. These shipments have been trending upward over the past year and still remain in the green. They had already increased by 5% in 2020, to reach 68 billion dirhams, against 64.7 billion in 2019.
It is an open secret. This important financial windfall constitutes a real financial resource for many Moroccan families, especially in this context of a health crisis that has hit several households head-on and plunged several able-bodied arms into unemployment.
The results of a study carried out jointly by Bank Al-Maghrib (BAM) and the World Bank in the regions of Casablanca- Settat, Beni Mellal-Khenifra, Souss-Massa, and the Oriental, published on April 28, 2021, by BAM, reveal that 96% say they receive help from their relatives based abroad. 50% of them receive these funds every two months or more.
A real financial resource
The monthly transfers concern more the wives of emigrants and the elderly supported by their children. Money often comes from their relatives since 52% of senders are either them or the recipient’s sister. “If you add uncles and aunts and children, you reach 83%. On the other hand, spouses represent only 9% of senders and friends only 3%, ”the report said.
Most of the MRE reside in Southern Europe, mainly in France (42%), Spain (24%), and Italy (14%). “The Oriental is distinguished by a majority of shippers residing in Spain (53%), which is partly explained by the proximity of the presidency of Melilla, which welcomes some of these people,” he underlines.
