A cross-sectoral committee held its first meeting in Rabat to address economic and social impacts as the novel coronavirus continues to spread.
Rabat – The newly created Economic Monitoring Committee enacted approaches to support the country’s economy and protect jobs in the wake of the global COVID-19 pandemic.
The pandemic has sparked economic shocks across sectors, but the tourism industry is expected to suffer the greatest impacts.
“Tourism is one of the most affected economic sectors by the health crisis linked to the new coronavirus, particularly with the suspension of international flights,” Moroccan Minister of Tourism, Handicrafts, Air Transport, and Social Economy Nadia Fettah Alaoui announced to press, following the first meeting of Morocco’s Economic Monitoring Committee.
The committee’s inaugural meeting in Rabat focused on measures to address COVID-19’s negative economic impact on the Moroccan economy, and to implement directives from King Mohammed VI.
The meeting comes shortly after King Mohammed VI’s March 15 decree creating the country’s MAD 10 billion “Special Fund for the Coronavirus Pandemic Management (COVID-19).”
The Economic Monitoring Committee will collaborate to effectively utilize a portion of the fund for measures that will support the national economy, especially the tourism sector, and safeguard jobs. The fund will also be used to protect public health.
Minister of Economy, Finance, and Administrative Reform Mohamed Benchaaboun serves as the committee’s coordinator.
The committee includes members from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans Abroad, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Industry, Trade, Green and Digital Economy, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Tourism, Handicrafts, Air Transport and Social Economy, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Rural Development, Water and Forests, and Ministry of Labor and Professional Integration.
Also part of the committee are Bank Al-Maghrib (Morocco’s central bank), the General Confederation of Enterprises in Morocco, the General Grouping of Banks in Morocco, the Federation of Chambers of Handicraft, and the General Confederation of Enterprises in Morocco.
Committee members are tasked with creating mechanisms to monitor economic impacts within their sectors, and to involve other relevant actors when appropriate.
Morocco has confirmed 38 COVID-19 cases to date. While the situation has not escalated to an outbreak, government officials are collaborating to prioritize containment measures, support the national economy, and mitigate avoidable economic losses.
