Rabat – Moroccan authorities are reportedly studying the possibility of extending the financial aid allocated to families in precarious conditions, a local news outlet recently announced, citing “informed sources.”
Morocco’s Ministry of Economy has been distributing stipends to people who lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The continuation of financial aid would benefit workers in the informal sector and families with no source of income.
While the ministry’s initial plan was to distribute aid for three months — March, April, and May — the report suggests that the government could extend the timeline of aid distribution, especially as Morocco is yet to completely lift the nationwide lockdown.
According to the report, the potential stipends would have the objective of financially supporting Morocco’s less fortunate households during the Eid al-Adha religious feast, scheduled for late July or early August, and for the start of the 2020-2021 school year. The two events generally impose significant additional expenses on households.
The Moroccan government launched the financial aid program in early April through the online platform tadamoncovid.ma (COVID Solidarity). The Ministry of Economy invited all informal workers who lost their job due to the nationwide lockdown to apply.
Workers registered in the program received financial aid depending in value on the size of their families. Families of two people or fewer received stipends of MAD 800 ($80), while families of three to four members received MAD 1,000 ($100). Households with more than four members received MAD 1,200 ($120).
Morocco’s Special Fund for the Management and Response to COVID-19 sponsored the totality of the allocations.
The first operation to support informal workers and their families started on April 16. It covered 4.3 million households with a budget of nearly MAD 4.2 billion ($427 million).
Meanwhile, the second operation started on May 14 and the third operation began one week later, on May 21.
The first operation covered the month of March, the second covered April, and the third covered May.
While the Ministry of Economy regularly reassured that everyone who meets the program’s requirements will receive aid, several citizens complained of a delay in receiving their stipends or of not receiving them at all.
In response to the complaints, the ministry added the possibility of filing an appeal through the online platform, in case of rejected applications. Authorities send an SMS message to the applicants as soon as their complaints are processed, notifying them of their appeal’s result.
To explain the delays, Head of Government Saad Eddine El Othmani said during a televised interview that the financial aid program was unprecedented and took exceptional effort.
Teams worked day and night to make an accurate census of the beneficiaries, he added.
