The loan is in addition to sizeable loans from several financial institutions, increasing external debt fears.
Rabat – The World Bank has announced a new $500 million loan to finance a program to support Morocco’s education sector.
The Moroccan Ministry of Education and Vocational Training and the World Bank are set to launch a new education program, Maghreb Arab Press (MAP) reported.
The program seeks to support the goal of improving educational results for all. It will benefit from a World Bank fund of $500 million in the form of a program loan for results “under which disbursement of funds is conditional on achieving key results.”
Hind Belhabib, the official in charge of strategic direction, statistics and planning at the ministry said that the program is part of the support that the World Bank gives to the Moroccan government, especially to the national education sector.
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She added that the program aims to help with the implementation of the strategic vision of the 2015-230 reform and the framework law on the education and training system.
Belhabib emphasized that the ministry seeks to generalize the education of children between four and five years old.
In recent years, Morocco has accepted loans from several financial institutions amid rising of external debts.
Several officials, including the Head of Court of Auditors Driss Jettou, President of High Commission for Planning (HCP) Ahmed Lahlimi, and the governor of the Central Bank Abdellatif Jouahri warned the government that debt is weighing down Morocco’s economic growth.
Last year, Jouahri said he expected external debt to rise to 16.6% of Morocco’s GDP in 2019, up from 13.8% of GDP in 2018.
Jouahri acknowledged in July that Morocco is experiencing a financial crisis as the country’s economic performance was not able to keep up with the “growing social demands.”
Data from CEIC shows that Morocco’s external debt reached $51.3 billion in March 2019.
