Morocco, a major North African grain importer, is expecting cereals output to come in 75 percent higher this year versus 2005 on better weather that spurred farmers to sow larger acreages, a government forecasts body said.
The Finance Ministry's Studies and Financial Forecasts Directory cited in a report obtained by Reuters on Monday good conditions and expanded sowed areas among the factors behind the expected bumper cereals crop.
It said well distributed rainfall over the past eight months was more than 3.0 percent higher than the same period last year when Morocco harvested about 4.0 million tonnes of cereals because of drought.
"The areas sowed in cereals totalled 5.2 million hectares, 2.0 percent up compared to the previous period," it added.
The drought last year cut cereals output to around 4.0 million tonnes from an average of 6.0 million tonnes in the last decade that slashed economic growth to 1.8 percent in 2005 from an average growth of 4.8 percent in the 2001-2004 period.
It added: "That will be an increase of 10 million quintals (1.0 million) tonnes compared to the (6.0 million tonnes) level of cereals harvest forecast earlier this year by the government".
The government and the International Monetary Fund expect Morocco's economy to grow by more than 6 percent this year from an earlier growth forecast of 5.4 percent on projected strong farming output, officials said.
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