Join on WhatsApp 
Join on Telegram Rabat – The African Development Bank (AfDB) approved today In Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire the financing of €264 million for Morocco, as part of its COVID-19 response support program (PARC-19).
“With rapid deployment of resources, PARC-19 contributes to bolster the Kingdom’s response efforts to the health, economic and social crisis triggered by the COVID-19 epidemic,” the AfDB said in a press release.
“Faced with this unprecedented situation, we are doing everything in our power to support Morocco to curb the spread of the virus and mitigate its economic and social repercussions,” said AfDB Director General for North Africa, Mohamed El Azizi.
AfDB indicates that protecting the population requires the primary objective of stopping the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The first step also includes improving the effectiveness of the authorities’ response, as well as increasing the number of virological tests.
“The second objective of this operation is intended to help preserve the purchasing power of Moroccans. In this perspective, the program will support public financial support measures, which benefit employees in the formal and informal sectors during the lockdown period,” said the AfDB.
“It will also reinforce [the] government’s efforts to provide support to 4.3 million households in the informal sector as well as 800,000 employees affiliated to the National Social Security Fund (CNSS),” the Bank added.
Another action to help Morocco cope with the financial crisis imposed by the COVID-19 lockdown came from the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF), providing the North African country with a loan worth $127 million.
Morocco’s Minister of Economy and Finance Mohamed Benchaaboun signed the loan agreement on May 20 with the General Manager and Chairman of the Fund’s Board of Directors, Abderrahman ben Abdellah Al Hamidi.
The AMF is also monitoring the development of the pandemic in Morocco, emphasizing its commitment to continue to boost the “fruitful partnership with the Moroccan government to provide the most effective way to meet the various challenges.”
