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Rabat – The Chairman of Morocco’s Special Commission on the Development Model (CSMD), Chakib Benmoussa, has presented the kingdom’s logic behind drafting a new development model, explaining that public spending is an important factor that needs renovation.
Benmoussa made the presentation during the Aix en Seine Economic Meetings in France. The event, organized by French think tank Circle of Economists, is taking place between July 3-5, under the theme “Acting in the face of the world’s deregulations.”
The Moroccan expert, who is also the country’s ambassador to France, took part in the event via videoconference and made a presentation about Morocco’s strategy during the COVID-19 pandemic. He touched on the country’s future plans, especially in terms of development and public spending.
“In the post-coronavirus period, we need a different state model, a state that protects [its citizens] and can regulate [its spending] better that it did [in the past],” Benmoussa said.
In Morocco, the government has launched a number of proactive policies in the industrial sector, in energy transition, and in the social field, the diplomat said. However, these approaches have shown their limits, since their growth is no longer sufficient to absorb job creation needs and inequalities remain at a high level.
Morocco’s total public spending is at approximately 40% of its gross domestic product (GDP), Benmoussa revealed, stressing the need to develop new sources of funding, such as foreign direct investments (FDIs), mobilization of public-private partnerships, and other innovative financial approaches.
According to Benmoussa, Morocco felt the need for a new development model“long before this period of health crisis” and the pandemic has only reinforced this feeling.
The creation of the CSMD, with the mission to develop a new development model for the country, stems from the need to think over the long term in a participatory approach, in order to elaborate a well-adapted model to the assets of Morocco and its opportunities, the diplomat continued.
The CSMD was born in July 2019, after King Mohammed VI criticized the previous development model by saying that it “no longer responds to citizens’ growing demands and pressing needs.”
The King appointed Benmoussa as chairman of the commission in November 2019, calling for impartiality, courage, and innovation in the process of drafting the new development model.
Benmoussa made the presentation during a panel discussion about the responsibility of states regarding the economy. The Moroccan diplomat shared the panel with several economists and experts, including German economist Henrik Enderlein, Director of Finland’s Environment Policy Center Eeva Furman, French businessman Jean-Louis Girodolle, Governor of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn, and Dutch CEO of ING Bank France Karien Van Gennip.
The Aix en Seine Economic Meetings are set to bring together 300 experts from the academic, economic, political, and social spheres to debate, over three days, and through 50 sessions broadcast online, the major priorities and actions to be taken after the COVID-19 pandemic.
