Survey finds education, travel are main expenses for Moroccans

19/03/2006

According to a survey by the Foreign Exchange Bureau, the main items of expenditure for Moroccan families are tuition fees and holidays. Pilgrimages account for 12.9 per cent of travel expenditure.

By Hassan Benmehdi for Magharebia in Casablanca – 19/03/06

[File] For many years, school fees and travel costs have been main expenses for Moroccans

In recent years, travel and education expenses have been the main expenditures of Moroccans. Figures for the first nine months of 2005 suggest that spending in these areas has changed little, while spending on business trips and healthcare has risen sharply.

According to a survey on Moroccan spending habits by the Foreign Exchange Bureau published this month, tourism accounts for 37.8 per cent of expenditures (1.922 billion dirhams), followed by school fees (28.3 per cent or 1.435 billion dirhams). Pilgrimages accounted for 12.9 per cent (655.4m dirhams), while business trips took an 11 per cent share (557.3m dirhams).

According to the Foreign Exchange Bureau, the survey shows that in 2005, those particular activities accounted for 90 per cent of the money spent by Moroccans on tourism and travel.

The cases of Khadija G, Seddik Ghoufal and Rachid Z. are fairly typical of the annual expenditure of Moroccan families in that school fees and travel are of major importance to them.

Khadija G is around 40-years-old, married and has two daughters. She spends 30 per cent of her annual salary on school fees and ten per cent on travel.

Seddik Ghoufal, who works for a public company, spends 15-20 per cent of his annual salary on school fees. He is happy that the company he works for often pays his family's travel expenses.

Rachid Z., who is around age 40 and has four children, says his school bill is expensive. With all four of his children enrolled in private schools, he spends around 40 per cent of his annual salary on school fees.

Given these fees, many lending institutions have moved into this area to respond to the needs of many workers. Major lenders in the market have been setting aside large sums earmarked for loans at the beginning of every school year. Loans generally vary between 2,000 and 10,000 dirhams.