Maria I. Makhmutova

The article examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Moroccan economy, as well as the measures that have been taken by the kingdom's authorities to counter the negative consequences. It is noted that initially, all forecasts shortly before the health crisis concerning Rabat were not objective, since they could not take into account future changes in the world. Thus, Morocco counted on dynamic development in 2020.

However, the sudden wave of the pandemic has made a dramatic difference. Important sectors of the economy have been disrupted as global trade chains have been affected. Moreover, Morocco's dependence on foreign capital also demonstrated the fragility of the domestic market. In particular, the kingdom faced an investment freeze and a reduction in foreign exchange remittances by representatives of the Moroccan diaspora abroad. The tourism sector suffered the most, negative shifts were noted in the automotive production, as well as fluctuations affected the country's banking sector, which is dependent on French partners.

To neutralize such a strong blow to the Moroccan economy, the government took the path of increasing foreign loans, which led to an increase in debt to 80% of GDP in 2021. To mitigate challenges in the domestic market, Rabat began to develop a number of programs to help the private sector. They affected micro, small and medium businesses. By introducing them, the government expects that by issuing concessional loans, it will be able to achieve a quick revival of small enterprises. In turn, this will reduce unemployment and, possibly, resume the previous volume of tax deductions.