Rabat- Nadia Fattah Alaoui, Morocco’s new Minister of Economy and Finance, has blamed Morocco’s economic crisis on what she describes as ten years of mismanagement under the leadership of the Justice and Development Party.
“For ten years, our country did not progress sufficiently to meet its qualifications…Our current situation could have been better if we had greater immunity to deal with the pandemic,” Alaoui said while presenting Morocco’s 2022 finance bill on Monday.
The new Minister of Economy appeared to take the view that despite the current unprecedented global crisis, the pandemic is not the source of Morocco’s “worsened economic situation.”
She explained; “The growth rate during the past ten years did not exceed 2.5 percent, while the unemployment rate rose from 8.9 percent in 2011 to more than 12 percent at the beginning of the current year.”
Increasing employment, introducing new taxes regulations, and raising public investments are the main promises of the Akhannouch-led government.
Judging from the recently unveiled finance Bill for the coming year, Morocco’s new government wants to upgrade government investments in social programs.
According to Alaoui, the Akhannouch’s cabinet is ready “with all its members to raise the challenges of this stage, and focus on priorities to overcome the economic and social difficulties of the crisis and build a strong, competitive and integrated economy.”
Boosting the employment rate is another critical challenge for the new government after the pandemic exacerbated Morocco’s long-alarming unemployment rates.
Again promising to rise the challenge, the new finance bill promises to create 250,000 direct job opportunities in two years.
According to the new economy minister, the government also aims to “regain forces as well as drawing inspiration from the spirit of the collective intelligence of all the country’s living forces in order to address all negative accumulations and provide alternatives to citizens’ problems and concerns.”
Nadia Fettah Alaoui was the Minister of Tourism, Air Transport, and Social Economy in the just replaced Saad Eddine El Othmani-led government.
Upon her recent appointment as finance minister, Aloui joined the National Rally of Independents Party (RNI) as a member.
