2021 Draft Appropriation Bill: Almost 33 bln MAD of Additional Expenditure (Official)

The priorities relating to the preparation of the 2021 Draft Appropriation Bill will require additional expenditure of around 33 billion dirhams, said Monday in Rabat, Minister of Economy, Finance and Administration Reform Mohamed Benchaâboun.

These priorities are related to the operationalization of the Royal guidelines (14.6 billion dirhams), the prioritization of the health and education sectors (5 billion dirhams) and the management of irreducible expenditure (13.6 billion dirhams), Benchaâboun said in a presentation before the Finance and Economic Development Committee at the House of Representatives.

He also recalled that among the issues inherent in the development of the said Bill is the implementation of the three High Royal Guidelines, laid down in the latest Throne Speech, namely the launch of the first phase of the social coverage generalization project, the launch of an ambitious program to revive the national economy and the launch of a major reform of the public sector.

The objectives of the social coverage generalization project concern in particular the generalization of compulsory health insurance as of January 2021, the generalization of retirement in favor of active population, which does not currently have social coverage, as well as compensation for job loss in favor of active population, noted the minister.

The roadmap for this reform includes, among other things, the revision of the regulatory framework for basic medical coverage, through the amendment of Law 65-00, the creation of a new compulsory health insurance for the poor population which currently benefits from Ramed and the initiation of measures capable of accelerating medical coverage for the benefit of self-employed workers, he stressed.

Regarding the reform governance, the minister emphasized the need to involve all stakeholders and improve the governance of social security regimes with a view to their integration into a single body which manages social protection in Morocco.

As for the ambitious economic recovery plan, Benchaâboun noted that its implementation will require the mobilization of 10 billion MAD for the establishment of guarantee mechanisms for the benefit of most-affected companies, as well as the support of the RAM company by allocating 1.17 billion dirhams in 2021 against 700 million dirhams the current year.