Head of Government: Morocco Allocates $871 Million to Expand Social Security

Rabat – Morocco is allocating MAD 9.5 billion ($871 million) to expand the social security net under the 2023 state budget, according to Head of Government Aziz Akhannouch.

Speaking during a hearing at parliament today, Akhannouch said that building a universal social security net is a focal point to his government’s policies. The target is to enable an additional four million disadvantaged Moroccan families to have access to social security benefits as of December 1, 2022.

Under the policy, the four million families would have access to the same mandatory health coverage (AMO) offered to state employees.

The $871 million would go to finance the monthly contribution necessary for the families to benefit from the health coverage, Akhannouch explained.

Detailing the services the government is funding, Akhannouch reckoned that the budget would cover all expenses related to treatment and hospitalization in public health establishments, especially in the case of costly treatment of chronic diseases.

In addition to targeting disadvantaged families, the Moroccan head of government recalled an earlier decision to provide direct assistance to more than seven million children from vulnerable social backgrounds, as well as three million families without children at school age.

“We have always been in favor of direct aid, as long as it is not driven by political or electoral aims,” Akhannouch stated, stressing that the scope of the social safety net “goes far beyond the framework of a government program for a single mandate and beyond a vision attributed to a single ministerial department, a partisan actor or a political actor.”

The recently released data on the 2023 state budget shows that Morocco is allocating substantial funds toward social programs.

The budget also details a number of policies the government is set to enact to support the national purchasing power by continuing to subsidize food and energy commodities, as well as scrapping taxes on critical imported commodities such as medications and wheat.