Morocco’s High Planning Commission (HCP) says it expects the economy to grow by 4.6 per cent in 2011.

Public sector investment will rise by 21.4 per cent and measures have been taken to boost small and medium enterprises.

HCP expects external demand to rise by 6 per cent in 2011. The country’s budget deficit is forecast to shrink from 4.2 per cent to 3.6 per cent. Foreign exchange deficit is expected to rise from 2.7 per cent to 3.6 per cent in gross domestic product (GDP).

The unemployment rate in Morocco remains unchanged since 2009 at 9.1 per cent of the population despite the creation of 120,000 jobs over the past year.