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RABAT, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Morocco's trade deficit increased by 8 percent to a total of 21.4 billion U.S. dollars in 2018, the foreign exchange regulator said on Wednesday.
According to the statistics, the rise in the deficit was driven by a 9.3-percent increase in imports to 50 billion dollars, particularly due to a hike in energy bill of 18.4 percent, raw materials of 17.6 percent and equipment of 9.4 percent.
Morocco's exports also increased by 10.2 percent to reach over 28.6 billion dollars, but remained far less in value than imports.
The increase in exports was pushed by a hike of 17 percent in phosphate, 13.8 percent in aeronautics products and 10.7 percent in car industry products.
