Rabat – Head of the Government Saad Eddine El Othamni has called on various ministerial departments to rationalize spending in drafting Morocco’s 2021 finance bill, in light of the COVID-19 crisis.
El Othmani’s instructions came in the form of a circular he sent to Moroccan ministries, Morocco’s state media reported.
The head of the government called on ministries to minimize the creation of budgetary posts, and to “redeploy human resources to cover the actual needs at the spatial and sectoral levels.”
In addition, El Othmani urged optimal management to reduce low-priority expenses, encouraging the use of renewable energies and energy-efficient technologies and reducing spending on studies.
For a more efficient application of Morocco’s 2021 finance bill, El Othmani invited ministries to rationalize expenses in telecommunication, transport, and rental and outfitting of administrative offices, in addition to vehicle rentals and purchases.
For investments, the Moroccan official asked ministerial departments to prioritize ongoing projects, namely those based on conventions signed before King Mohammed VI, both national and international.
Ministries should also opt for innovative financing mechanisms by implementing the legal framework of public and private partnership.
Requirements for drafting Morocco’s 2021 finance bill also include reducing investment subsidies intended for public establishments.
Public establishments that benefit from state subsidies must prepare their budgets based on a clear indexation of the projects that benefit from subsidy credits, according to the circular.
El Othmani’s call to rationalize expenses follows the Ministry of Economy’s report on the execution of Morocco’s finance bill for the second quarter of 2020. The bill’s implementation revealed a deficit of MAD 28.8 billion ($3.1 billion).
The deficit comes from ordinary resources of MAD 203.1 billion ($22.1 billion), excluding loan receipts, against charges of MAD 231.8 billion ($25.2 billion), excluding amortization of the debt.
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