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Morocco Achieves 83% of its Sea Fishing Development Plan

Fishing boats docked in the harbor of Laayoune, Western Sahara's main city. (AFP)
Fishing boats docked in the harbor of Laayoune, Western Sahara's main city. (AFP)
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Morocco Achieves 83% of its Sea Fishing Development Plan

Fishing boats docked in the harbor of Laayoune, Western Sahara's main city. (AFP)
Fishing boats docked in the harbor of Laayoune, Western Sahara's main city. (AFP)

Sea fishing production in Morocco rose 2.3 percent annually in recent years in terms of quantity and 7.2 percent in terms of value.

Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Aziz Akhannouch noted that production stands at 1.37 million tons, which is 83 percent of the specified target in Halieutis program to develop the sector between 2010 and 2020.

He made his remarks during a press conference on the sidelines of the Halieutis expo in Agadir that is seeing the participation of 300 exhibitors from 40 countries.

The value of sea fishing output totaled MAD11.6 billion (USD1.3 billion) and the volume of fish exports reached 717,000 tons, marking an annual growth average of 5 percent during this period.

The value of these exports reached MAD22 billion (USD2.3 billion), representing 9 percent of the country’s exports and 45 percent of its food industries exports.

Akhannouch added that the sea fishing sector currently offers jobs for 108,000 on boats and 97,000 on land, noting that key goals include increasing the local consumption of fish and raising the sector’s contribution in achieving food security.

Per capita consumption of fish in Morocco rose from 11 kg to 14 kg since the launch of the program eight years ago.

During this period, the sector attracted MAD2.6 billion (USD295 million) in private investments, MAD2.2 billion (USD274 million) of them were for new licenses.

Akhannouch stated that the annual growth rate of investments in processing industries related to sea fishing reached 13 percent.

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Turkish Cenbank Inflation Forecasts Unchanged, Vows Tight Policy

Business and residential buildings are seen in Sisli district, in Istanbul, Türkiye, July 26, 2024. REUTERS/Dilara Senkaya
Business and residential buildings are seen in Sisli district, in Istanbul, Türkiye, July 26, 2024. REUTERS/Dilara Senkaya
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Turkish Cenbank Inflation Forecasts Unchanged, Vows Tight Policy

Business and residential buildings are seen in Sisli district, in Istanbul, Türkiye, July 26, 2024. REUTERS/Dilara Senkaya
Business and residential buildings are seen in Sisli district, in Istanbul, Türkiye, July 26, 2024. REUTERS/Dilara Senkaya

The Turkish Central Bank has left its mid-point inflation forecasts for end-2024 and end-2025 unchanged at 38% and 14% respectively, Governor Fatih Karahan said on Thursday, vowing to maintain a tight monetary policy stance.
In a briefing on the bank's latest quarterly inflation report, Karahan said that inflation was projected to fall to 9% by the end of 2026.
"We will decisively maintain our tight monetary policy stance until price stability is achieved," he said. "By maintaining the cautious stance in monetary policy, we envisage that inflation will decline steadily in the rest of the year."
Turkish annual consumer price inflation eased to 61.78% in July, accelerating what is expected to be a sustained slide. Economists see end-year inflation around 42%, Reuters reported.
The bank has raised its policy rate by 4,150 basis points since June last year, but has kept it unchanged at 50% since March to allow the tightening to have an impact.
Karahan said a tight monetary policy stance could be maintained even when the time comes for rate cuts.
"We need to maintain the tight stance for a long time. This does not mean that interest rates will never be cut. A tight stance can be maintained with rate cuts," he said.
The lira was largely flat at 33.5225 to the dollar after his comments, having touched a record low of 33.6700 earlier this week.
EXPECTATIONS CRITICAL
Karahan said the bank's "decisive" monetary policy stance would support the downtrend in monthly underlying inflation amid rebalancing in domestic demand, real appreciation of the lira and the improvement in inflation expectations.
"The convergence of inflation expectations to the forecast range is of critical importance for disinflation," he added.
In its last quarterly report in May, the bank nudged up its year-end inflation forecast to 38% from a previous 36% due to an unexpectedly large rise in the first four months of the year.
The tightening cycle over the last year marked a stark turnaround after years of unorthodox economic policy under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who in the past urged low rates despite rising prices.
On July 26, Deputy Governor Cevdet Akcay told Reuters that the bank was not even considering a rate-cutting cycle at this time as easing too early could reignite inflation and extend the pain for an economy on the verge of disinflation.
As it seeks to cool the economy, the bank is also rebuilding foreign reserves which had plunged under previous economic programs that had sought to stabilize the lira.