Morocco may tap the international bond market in 2012 after its current account deficit surged last year to the highest since the 1980s, although the country is not under pressure to borrow, government ministers said on Monday.
Higher energy and food import bills coupled with weaker growth in tourism receipts and some exports pushed the current account deficit to 6.5 percent of gross domestic product in 2011 versus 4.3 percent in 2010, Finance and Economy Minister Nizar Baraka said at a news conference.
Based on Reuters’ calculations, the balance of payments shortfall rose 59 percent to 53.2 billion dirhams in 2011 from its level in 2010.
Asked if the widening current account deficit gap would force Rabat to tap international bond markets, Baraka told Reuters: “There is no pressing need … but we remain eligible for a potential issue”.
Idriss Azami al-Idrissi, minister in charge of the budget, told Reuters: “A bond issue in 2012 is not on the agenda as we speak but it’s not to be excluded.
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