World Bank grants Morocco $150m loan to support urban transportation

The World Bank said it has granted Morocco a loan of US$150 million to support its Urban Transport Programme, the Moroccan official news agency, MAP, reported on Wednesday.

“This new financing will support the Moroccan authorities in maintaining their momentum for reform and to develop enough, affordable transportation for the country’s urban population,’’ MAP quoted Jesko Hentschel, World Bank country director for the Maghreb, as saying.

In June, the World Bank granted Morocco a loan of US$500 million to support its key policy reforms.

According to Morocco’s central bank, the North African country’s economy is expected to contract by 5.2 per cent in 2020 because of the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic, which will be its worst economic performance since 1996.

Morocco’s government debts will soar to 75.3 per cent of the GDP in 2020 from 65 per cent in 2019 because of the huge financial needs of the public treasury, the central bank noted.

(Xinhua/NAN)