Rabat – Morocco has spent MAD 307 million ($ 31.3 million) on a special program aimed at supporting transport professionals across the country.
The global surge in fuel prices has considerably burdened Moroccan transport professionals.
With fuel expenses representing between 35% and 70% of their total expenditures, many have in recent weeks protested and called for governmental support, Mohammed Abdeljalil, Minister of Transport and Logistics, said on Tuesday during a parliamentary session.
The operators’ expenditures on fuel vary based on its prices, type and condition of vehicles used, as well as distance traveled, he added.
Abdeljalil noted that 120,000 transport vehicles – around 67% of the targeted group – have benefitted from bank-to-bank transfers of MAD 216 million ($22.03 million) and money transfers worth MAD 91 million ($ 9.28 million) to unbanked professionals.
In late March, Morocco’s Ministry of Transport launched a digital platform in coordination with the Ministries of Interior and Finance; it then urged transport operators to register on the platform to benefit from subsidies.
The digital platform has so far processed 78,000 requests, added the minister. These requests concern 20,000 small taxis, 33,500 large taxis, 50,000 goods transportation vehicles, 3,300 tourism transports, 10,000 public transport vehicles, and 300 mixed transport vehicles in rural areas.
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Abdeljalil argued that these measures aimed to avoid any disruption of the transport sector.
But also impacted by the rising fuel prices were Moroccan gas stations. On March 28, Morocco’s National Federation of Gas Stations’ Owners, Traders, and Managers demanded government support, asking for proactive measures to “support enterprises in the sector and ensure energy supply in the country.”
Their request “has gone unnoticed,” the federation said on Monday, calling on the Ministry of Energy to open doors for social dialogue.
This surge in fuel prices results from the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, spokesperson of the government Mustapha Baitas said last week.
“The impact of this conflict on Morocco is true,” he added, recalling rising fuel and food prices.
Currently, fuel prices at Moroccan gas stations range between MAD 14 and 15 per liter, up from MAD 10 and 11.
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