Al Maghrib, first year - No 35, July 5, 1937
Now that the franc has dropped in value twice over the last few months the exchange rate has doubled recently leading to soaring prices and market disruption. Moroccans were in great discomfort knowing that the crisis was going to grow wider and worsen. It would have been possible for them to profit from the fall of the franc if they would have had an abundant harvest to sell to foreign markets. This would have covered in part some of Morocco's expenditures abroad. However Morocco, presently relies purely on its agriculture and since this past season's agricultural production has been meager, we have to import the bulk of our consumption needs without being able to balance the cost of imports with exports to cover these needs. Hence there is a threat the crisis will widen and the Moroccan people will sink into a state of poverty and destitution without thought to any remedy to soften the blow of the hardships they are being drawn into.
Wealthy nations, who find themselves in a similar situation, know how to deal with good and bad fortune and hence take the appropriate actions to shield themselves against the (dire) consequences of the crisis and protect their economic equilibrium by enveloping it with protective countermeasures. The people and their government cooperate for a common purpose, creating economic interest groups who spare no effort to explain to the popular masses their incumbent duty in such trying times. Our people, today, are the furthest away from any understanding of the dangers that threaten them than the rest of humanity. They are unable to link their fate with the cyclical economic trends. We are at the mercy of the circumstances and opportunities we face without thinking about tomorrow. We take no precautions to protect us from adversity (as we could by) following the example of others who use all means possible to avoid becoming victims and to repel the dangers of such disasters. Furthermore we do not think beyond the short horizon of self hood to account for the much wider span of measures needed on the social scale.
The fall of the exchange rate is felt by all nations subject to its economic gearing. It causes societies to tremble and their spheres to shake. Each body engages itself to soften the blow of the crisis resulting from depreciation of its currency by trying to recover all or a portion of their losses incurred following the disruptions in the currency market. But we sense nothing of the sort in our society. Unlike the economic interest groups in the developed nations of the world, we do not perceive and understand the serious consequences of the fall of the exchange rate.
The Moroccan government partially fulfilled its obligation by issuing a decree that prohibits price increases and this will inhibit, up to a certain point, the greed of some merchants. But even if this measure is carried out to the best extent possible, it will likely be of hardly any benefit because it is insufficient to confront all the dire consequences of the French franc's devaluation.
The government could have take (more) appropriate measures if it took into consideration the views of a number of subject matter experts and then accorded this issue all the attention it was due. The people would be called upon to take the necessary precautions to face the crisis spreading through Morocco in the same way that the government would be asked to take the required measures in such circumstances.
It is imperative to launch campaigns to raise awareness calling on the consumption of only Moroccan produced goods and to explain the economic objectives of this seemingly simple concept. That the franc which we spend to finance our imports leaves the pockets of Moroccans will never come back.
The fall of the franc has led to almost a fifty percent decline in the value of the dirham which is exchanged to purchase our imports that we consume. Meanwhile we have no merchandise to export to foreign markets and this season's harvest has been poor.
If we (do nothing and) wait until next season, a season whose harvest will also depend on the whims of nature, the National Treasury will lose considerably with respect to the balance of its of funds, which would surely result in worsening the crisis and extending the famine. It is our responsibility as Moroccans to conserve the country's dirhams during this difficult time by confining our purchases to our nation's products. It is this concept which must be publicized in a nationwide campaign to limit the crisis to its current level.
