Rabat – King Mohammed VI chaired a council of ministers to discuss the 2020 Finance Bill on October 9.
A statement read by the official spokesman of the royal palace, Abdelhak Lamrini, said that Minister of Economy and Finance Mohamed Benchaaboun made a presentation before the King on the general aspects of the finance bill for the year 2020.
The draft law has been developed in accordance with King Mohammed VI‘s instructions made in his royal speeches, the statement added.
The finance bill seeks to prioritize education reforms and socio-economic projects to curb social disparities while boosting the country’s economy.
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Throughout the years, King Mohammed VI has called on the government to implement a new development model to meet growing social demands and confront the key challenges Morocco is facing.
The King, through several speeches, called on the government to prioritize education reforms to curb illiteracy and to reinforce pre-primary education. The King also urged the government to come up with concrete actions to lower unemployment, suggesting that vocational training programs would serve as a pillar to combat the unemployment crisis.
Quoted by Maghreb Arab Press (MAP), the statement said that the finance bill will focus on four main axes:
1 . “The effective implementation of the framework law on the education and training system reform, as a basis for reducing disparities, upholding the principle of equal opportunities, strengthening social support for schooling and implementing the road map for the development of vocational training.
2. “The establishment of social protection mechanisms, support for the middle class and increased targeting of the poor: through the improvement and generalization of medical services, the extension of medical coverage, and the operationalization of health insurance, as well as the implementation of the commitments of the Social Dialogue, the improvement of the targeting of categories in precarious situations, the progressive development of direct aid from which they benefit, the acceleration of the implementation of the program to combat territorial and social disparities in rural areas, and the support for the third phase of the National Initiative for Human Development.
3. “Accelerating the implementation of regionalization, as an essential vector to remedy territorial disparities and achieve the expected balance between the general development effort and the specificities of each region, through increasing the regions’ resources and speeding up the implementation of the Charter on administrative devolution.
4 . “Creating a new dynamic for investment and business support: focusing on the implementation of the recommendations of the Third National Conference on Taxation, the further liquidation of the debt relating to value added tax, the reduction of payment delays, in addition to the setting up of a Fund for the promotion and financial support of small, very small and medium-sized enterprises.”
Nine bilateral agreements
King Mohammed VI has also been calling on the government and civilians to ensure openness with international cooperation.
Today’s ministerial council saw the adoption of nine international and multilateral conventions.
The agreements include economic cooperation in the field of non-double taxation and attracting international investment.
The conventions also include judicial and defense cooperation.
