Speaking on Sunday at a press briefing on the IMF's latest Regional Economic Outlook, Azour recalled that Morocco faced last year "two shocks, not one: the Covid crisis and the drought that affected the Moroccan economy and produced a contraction of the economy quite strong compared to previous years".
"This year, thanks to the measures that the government put in place last year, both health ones but also fiscal and monetary measures, Morocco has managed to resume the path of growth," he said in response to a question by MAP-Washington.
"Both at the production level, but also at the social and banking level, a number of innovations have improved social protection by transferring to more than 5 million families through banking applications the support of the government," noted the Director of the Middle East and North Africa Department of the IMF.
Regarding vaccination strategy, a component considered "critical" for recovery, the international financial institution considers Morocco to be "one of the most advanced countries".
"It is the most advanced African country and in the MENA region, if we exclude the oil producing countries of the Gulf, Morocco is one of the most advanced countries," said Azour.
According to him, "all these actions have enabled Morocco to strengthen its growth for this year and also put itself on a better trajectory for the future, for the resumption of growth and to build a more integrated and strong economy”.
When asked about the prospects for partnership with Morocco, Azour spoke of a "historic partnership".
"We have supported all of the reforms that have been put in place by Morocco over the past ten years. We continue to work hand in hand with Morocco, both on reform issues, whether in the form of programs, but also in the form of technical assistance”.
In its latest semi-annual World Economic Outlook report published this week, the International Monetary Fund forecasts a growth rate of 4.5% for the Moroccan economy in 2021 and 3.9% for 2022.