The country has a new king, who sounds optimistic and is making popular changes. But still businessmen are nervous. Last year, on November 9th, when most Moroccans celebrated the fall of a hated interior minister, Driss Basri, as their Day of Independence, the Casablanca bourse actually slipped.
Some economists speak of a looming crisis.
This year Morocco will have the lowest economic growth in the region. Bad rains, in a country where the harvest can bring huge swings in the growth rate, are blamed for another probable poor showing this year. Money is not the problem, says the World Bank. It blames the bloated and heavily unionised administration. Last year the government added another six ministries to bring the total to 41.