Morocco+Economics


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ECONOMICS
__Currency:__ The Moroccan Dirham, denoted by MAD, is the official currency of Morocco. Made up of 100 centimes per unit, the currency is issued by the Bank Al-Maghrib (Morocco's central bank). Historically, the Moroccan Dirham originates from the Byzantine Empire's Drachm, and was used in Arabia and the Levant in pre-Islamic times. The name "Dirham" stems from the Roman word "denarius." (http://www.gocurrency.com/countries/morocco.htm)


 * 1 Moroccan Dirham=0.1204 US dollars**



__Economy__**:** Gross National Product; USD $27,645,000,000 Public Debt; USD $20,310,000,000 Imports; DH 66,119,000,000 Exports; DH 36,815,000,000 Tourism Receipts; USD $1,267,000,000 Balance of Trade; DH -23,353,000,000 Economically Active Population; 8,694,000 or 32.8% of total population Unemployed; 9%

__Main Trading Partners__**:** Its main trading partners are France, the USA, Germany, the Netherlands, India, the former USSR, Spain, Italy, Saudi Arabia, the UK and Poland.

__Main Primary Products__**:** Almonds, Cereals, Citrus Fruits, Dates, Fish, Goats, Grapes, Iron, Lead, Manganese, Olives, Phosphates, Poultry, Pulses, Sheep, Timber, Vegetables.

__Major Industries__**:** Agriculture, Cement, Fertilizers, Fishing, Food Processing, Leather Goods, Mining, Textiles, Wine.

__Main Exports__**:** Clothing, Fish, Fruit and Vegetables, Metal Ores, Petroleum Products, Phosphates, Phosphoric Acid.

(http://www.atlapedia.com/online/countries/morocco.htm)

__Average Income__: $4,500 (USD) (http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5431.htm)

__How economics impact people of Morocco:__ Unemployment and underemployment are big problems for the unskilled and uneducated. There are a large number of beggars, and 13 percent of all Moroccans fall below the poverty line. Uneducated individuals who have risen slightly above the poverty level have most likely learned a specific trade or skill. For example, a man who learns to become a stone carver provides himself with lifelong work. Uneducated women may find employment by providing domestic services to families other than their own. Those who are fortunate enough to receive university degrees may become doctors, lawyers, university professors, or other professionals. People of the middle and upper classes do not perform any physical labor, and would consider it lowering themselves to do any of their own housework. Physical work must be left to provide jobs for those who have no alternative source of employment. Many fall sick easily and are unable to keep themselves healthy. Their families often run in the same cycle due to the lack of education or unemployment.

 A wide gap exists between the very rich and the very poor. A strong belief in fatalism, that things are meant to be exactly as they are, and the Islamic principal of giving to those in need, lends to the acceptance of social and economic inequality. At the top level of the class system exists the monarch and royal family, members of the government, and a group of very wealthy Moroccans who do not work. They are joined by wholesale merchants and the owners of large manufacturing, industrial, or international trading companies. The upper class often claims to be Arab, although there are as few pure Arabs as there are pure Berbers remaining. An upper middle and middle class is comprised of professionals, mostly educated in Europe. Another group, called Sherfa, are those who claim descent from the prophet Muhammad. Sherfa typically do not work, and those who have no inherited wealth live off the alms of others. A relatively new class, referred to as the Muhajerin, or emigrants, is comprised of nearly 2 million Moroccans who live and work abroad, in order to send their wages back to support their families in Morocco. Many of the Muhajerin are not likely to ever return to their native country. Berber farmers in the countryside have little access to the education and social climbing available to those in larger cities. Most remain poor and are looked down upon. Jews and other foreigners generally prosper, while sub-Saharan black Africans are often discriminated against. (http://www.everyculture.com/Ma-Ni/The-United-Kingdom-of-Morocco.html)