This meeting, led by the Minister Delegate to the Minister of Economy and Finance, responsible for the Budget, Fouzi Lekjaa, took place in the presence of the Minister Delegate responsible for Relations with Parliament, government spokesperson, Mustapha Baitas, and the presidents of the parliamentary groups of the government majority.
Speaking on this occasion, Mr. Lekjaa stressed the major importance of the sustainability of public finances, which constitutes a shared responsibility between the government and Parliament, linked to the capacity of our country to finance public projects and policies, and to ensure its financial sovereignty.
He also highlighted the need to assess the country’s capacity to maintain this sustainability, taking into account the commitments made by the Executive and the major projects launched under the enlightened leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, particularly in terms of building the social state and supporting investment.
Referring to the balance between the financing needs of development projects and the maintenance of macroeconomic balances, Mr. Lekjaa mentioned that nearly 100 billion dirhams (MMDH) additional have been mobilized over a period of three years (2021-2023). In addition, tax revenues have seen an average annual increase of 12.5%, while the tax burden has decreased from 23% to 21%.
These resources will make it possible to finance additional expenses of more than 90 billion dirhams, Mr. Lekjaa said, noting that the cost of social protection projects will reach 40 billion dirhams, while social dialogue will cost 45 billion dirhams by 2026.
Regarding the implementation of the Direct Housing Assistance Program, the Minister noted that the number of beneficiaries reached nearly 12,000 people, for an annual cost estimated at 9 billion dirhams.
Furthermore, the government official provided details regarding the number of beneficiaries of “RAMED”, specifying that the figure of 18 million corresponds to the cumulative number of beneficiaries since the generalization of the Medical Assistance Scheme in 2012 until the end of 2022, including those who have lost their eligibility for this system.
Mr. Lekjaa thus clarified that the number of beneficiaries whose data was transferred from “RAMED” to “AMO Tadamon” in December 2022 is 10 million people, and not 18 million, adding that all beneficiaries of “RAMED” were automatically eligible for “AMO Tadamon” and had a period of one year to register in the Unified Social Register in order to continue to benefit from “AMO Tadamon”.
At the end of this period, the number of beneficiaries increased to 3.8 million families, or around 10 million people, which corresponds to the same number of beneficiaries of “RAMED” at the end of 2022, explained Mr. Lekjaa.
For his part, Mr. Baitas stressed, in response to the interventions of the parliamentarians, that the assimilation of the government’s record requires the use of different approaches and tools, starting with understanding that the current government has moved from a policy of maintaining social and economic conditions to a policy aimed at inducing change, particularly through socio-economic integration measures.
The chairman of the Istiqlalian group for unity and equality in the House of Representatives, Omar Hejira, said that this meeting is part of a series of communication meetings of the government majority groups aimed at strengthening the debate on important issues. He also stressed the government’s commitment to implementing social programs for all Moroccans, recalling the role of the legislative institution in monitoring the implementation of these programs in order to ensure their success.
In turn, the president of the National Rally of Independents group, Mohamed Chaouki, highlighted the importance of this meeting which is an opportunity to discuss a subject that has sparked much debate, namely the sustainability of public finances. In this sense, he affirmed that the state of public finances is “good”, which will make it possible to finance socio-economic projects, particularly that of social protection.
As for the president of the Authenticity and Modernity group, Ahmed Touizi, he indicated that this meeting takes place in a context where “the opposition groups doubted the government’s ability to ensure sustainable financing of social protection”, assuring that the government “has put in place all the financial mechanisms necessary to ensure the sustainability of these social projects”.
Welcoming the government’s progress report, the president of the Constitutional, Democratic and Social group, Belassal Chaoui, emphasized the importance of the financial sustainability of social projects while calling for the maintenance of financial balances and the strengthening of investments.
2024-09-23 12:20:52