Laayoune – The Moroccan Ministry of Transportation and Logistics announced on Monday a new financial support scheme for professional drivers, saying the initiative is mainly aimed at helping the beneficiaries in navigating the ongoing price hikes.
The registration process for the new assistance scheme opened on August 23, the ministry said in a press release on Monday, noting that the application process for the supplementary assistance scheme for professional drivers can be completed at the online platform: mouakaba.transport.gov.ma.
As the ministry took into account the current high cost of fuel, the latest financial support program provides the same amount of financial compensation as the previous support scheme the ministry launched in March.
Read also: Moroccan Government Launches Online Platform to Help Professional Drivers
However, the most notable difference between the two initiatives is that, due to the suspension of classes during the summer, school transportation drivers are not included in the latest operation.
In view of the current situation characterized by soaring fuel prices, the ministry said it started this operation to mitigate the impact of the ongoing, acute cost of living crisis on drivers’ purchasing power.
In March, diesel prices overtook those of gasoline for the first time in Morocco.
The price of one liter of diesel stood at MAD 14.31 ($1.48) on March 31, while the price of gasoline averaged MAD 14.20 ($1.47) per liter.
Many have been protesting online to demand that the government take measures to lower fuel prices.
Yet the government has justified the price hikes by pointing to worldwide disruptions caused by theCOVID crisis, the Ukraine war, and the climate breakdown.
In response, many Moroccans have continued to engage with anti-government hashtags on social media to both denounce the fuel price increases and urge the government to resign if it cannot meet popular demands for significant price cuts.
