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Join on Telegram Rabat – Fouzi Lekjaa, Morocco’s Minister Delegate in charge of the budget, said increasing the price for gas cylinders does not mean liberalization of the market.
Lekjaa’s remarks came as a defense of government reforms, particularly the decision to increase the prices of 12 kilogram gas cylinders by MAD 10.
However, for Lekjaa, increasing the prices does not mean liberalization, and he emphasized that the state will continue to support the market.
He said that Morocco allocated MAD 111 billion to gas subsidies between 2015 and 2023, of which only 2.5 billion annually or 14% benefited disadvantaged citizens.
The affluent population, however, benefited from 27% of the gas subsidy budget, he added.
Lekjaa stressed that the government decided that it is better to directly support vulnerable populations through social benefits rather than maintaining gas subsidies, which have no tangible effect on their purchasing power.
Lekjaa noted that 3.6 million “individuals in need will receive 25 billion dirhams this year,” adding that this amount will increase to MAD 29 billion by 2026.
On Sunday last week, the Ministry of Economy announced that the price of 12 kg gas cylinders will increase by MAD 10, bringing the cost from MAD 40 to MAD 50.
The price of 3 kilogram cylinders will also increase by MAD 2.5.
The ministry said that the measure is part of a partial reduction in the subsidy on butane cylinders for 2024. The measure came into effect on May 20.
The ministry suggested that the deregulation of butane gas comes in a context marked by the implementation of the direct social assistance program, which benefited 3.6 million households until the end of last April.
