[LINK] "Paying Less in Slump Lifts Morocco Above Oil-Pumping Neighbors"

[rfmcdonald]

Bloomberg's Caroline Alexander describes how not having an oil-based economy is a benefit to Morocco, particularly compared to its oil-producing Arab neighbours.

Tumbling oil prices have helped Morocco shore up public finances and lure investments, in contrast to countries from Saudi Arabia to Jordan struggling with rising budget deficits and slower economic growth.

Dismantling a costly energy subsidy program -- politically more difficult when prices were high -- was achieved with little fallout for the government, the only Islamist-led administration to remain in power in North Africa since the Arab Spring unraveled. The PJD party that heads the government carried the popular vote in this month’s local elections, viewed as a test for its prospects in next year’s parliamentary ballot.

That stability relative to other regional net energy importers has been vital in attracting investment in real estate and tourism, especially from the monarchies of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Though Egypt has also benefited from the lower cost of fuel subsidies, the economy has struggled since the ouster of Hosni Mubarak in 2011 spurred years of political turmoil and the sharpest business downturn in decades. The fallout from civil war in Syria has weighed on Lebanon, while in Morocco’s neighbor Algeria, as in OPEC nations in the Gulf, loss of vital oil revenues has hurt the government budget.