RABAT, June 1 (Reuters) - Morocco’s trade deficit shrank by 4.2% to 62.7 billion dirhams ($7.11 billion) in the first four months of 2021, the foreign exchange regulator said on Tuesday. Moroccan imports rose 10.7% to 165.3 billion dirhams, while exports jumped 22.3% to 102.6 billion dirhams from January to April compared to the previous year, the regulator said in a monthly report. The automotive sector continues to top Morocco’s industrial exports at 29.5 billion dirhams, up 62.6%, while exports of phosphates and byproducts including fertilisers rose 16.9% to 18.1 billion dirhams. Travel receipts, crucial to Morocco’s inflow of hard currency, dropped 65.7% to 6.4 billion dirhams, while remittances from Moroccans living abroad rose 45% to 28.8 billion dirhams and foreign direct investment increased 12% to 6.4 billion dirhams. (Reporting by Ahmed Eljechtimi; Editing by David Gregorio) Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.