(Ecofin Agency) - Morocco is facing water shortage caused by a severe drought. To tackle the situation, the kingdom is ramping up its efforts to develop infrastructure to improve water management and access.

Morocco will allocate 143 billion dirhams ($14.2 billion) to its 2020-2027 National Program for Drinking Water Supply and Irrigation. The funds should help the country curb the effects of the drought it is currently experiencing, according to a statement from the Ministry of Equipment and Water, released on May 9.

In detail, the funds will be used to speed up the interconnection of the hydraulic basins of Sebou, Bouregreg, and Oum Er-Rbia, schedule new dams, and update the costs of about twenty planned dams. They should also help accelerate projects to mobilize unconventional water resources and improve the drinking water supply in rural areas.

According to the World Bank, renewable water resources available in Morocco dropped from 2,560 m3 per head per year to about 620 m3 from 1960 to 2020, putting the country under “structural water stress".

This situation, paired with global inflationary pressures, could have repercussions on the purchasing power of the poorest and most vulnerable households, in a context where the annual inflation rate increased from 1.4% in 2021 to 6.6% in 2022, according to the IMF.