other political entities The economic history of Morocco has largely been charted by the national government through a series of five-year plans.

The institution of Tujjar as-Sultan, in which major Jewish merchants were granted long distance trading privileges, was established in the Saadi period.

[2]: 32 Attempting to stabilize the currency, Sultan Muhammad minted a silver muhammadi dirham (درهم محمدي) with a fixed exchange rate with bronze coins.

Succeeding sultans attempted similar strategies: minting new coins, readjusting the rate of exchange to account for inflation, and imposing new taxes to stabilize income for the Makhzen.

The British loan and the amount owed directly to Spain were to be repaid from tariffs collected at Moroccan ports, to be overseen by Spanish agents.

[2]: 60–63 Sultan Abdelaziz attempted fiscal reform to curb the draining of the treasury by instating a non-Quranic universal capital tax called the tartib (ترتيب).

[2]: 60–63  It was applied to everyone—including privileged groups such as the shurafa, tribal qaids, those protected by the protégé system, and Europeans, who were for the first time allowed to purchase property at port cities engaged in overseas trade.

After a period of minimal profits and a massive locust swarm in 1930, agricultural production shifted toward irrigated, higher-value crops such as citrus fruits and vegetables.

[4] The industrialization of agriculture required capital that many Moroccan farmers didn't have, leading to a rural exodus as many headed to find work in the city.

[6] Compagnie des Chemins de Fer du Maroc Oriental created narrow-gauge railroads east of Fes.

[8] Industry during the early period of the protectorate on focused food processing for local consumption: there were canneries, a sugar refinery (Compagnie Sucriere Marocaine, COSUMA),[9] a brewing company (Société des Brasseries du Maroc, SBM),[10] and flourmills.

The 1978 to 1980 plan was one of stabilization and retrenchment, designed to improve Morocco's balance-of payments position, but the 4% annual growth rate achieved was disappointing.

[citation needed] The ambitious five-year plan for 1981 to 1985, estimated to cost more than $18 billion, aimed for a growth rate of 6.5% annually.

Other major goals were to increase production in agriculture and fisheries to make the country self-sufficient in food, and to develop energy (by building more hydroelectric installations and by finding more petroleum and other fossil fuels), industry, and tourism to enable Morocco to lessen its dependence on foreign loans.

The plan called for significant expansion of irrigated land, for increased public works projects such as hospitals and schools, and for economic decentralization and regional development through the construction of 25 new industrial parks outside the crowded Casablanca-Kénitra coastal area.

Proposed infrastructural improvements included the $2-billion rail line from Marrakech to El Aaiún; a new fishing port at Ad-Dakhla, near Argoub in the Western Sahara; and a bridge-tunnel complex across the Strait of Gibraltar to link Morocco directly with Spain.

Large industrial projects included phosphoric acid plants, sugar refineries, mines to exploit cobalt, coal, silver, lead, and copper deposits, and oil-shale development.

[16] Since the early 1990s, Morocco has embarked on a major economic restructuring programme aimed at raising living standards, cutting unemployment and boosting growth.

In pursuit of these goals, successive governments have made efforts to attract domestic and overseas investment, which has obliged them to tackle a string of other problems - such as reducing red tape and corruption, updating the financial system and privatizing telecommunications, water and power.

Both of these have been praised by international bodies such as the IMF and World Bank, but have led to frequent confrontation between the unions and the government, which since 1998 has been centre-left dominated.

The IMF, World Bank and Paris Club backed structural adjustment programmes followed by the administration first seeing dirham convertibility established for current account transactions in 1993.

This came into force in 2000, with the EU long established as the country's main trading partner - taking some 75% of Morocco's exports and providing 60% of its imports.

It is now hoped that the sale of a further 16% stake in MT, the state tobacco company, several sugar firms and a clutch of power generation and water management facilities will revitalize the programme.

[citation needed] The United States Senate ratified the U.S.-Morocco Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act by a vote of 85 to 13 on July 21, 2004.