The Moroccan government has decided to maintain subsidies for butane gas, sugar and flour for the 2024 fiscal year, the budget for which is estimated at 16.36 billion dirhams in the 2024 Finance Bill (PLF).
The subsidies granted for gas cost the state budget 22 billion dirhams last year, according to data provided by the Ministry of Finance.
Insistently demanded by transport unions, due to the rise in pump prices, subsidizing fuel would cost the state 100 billion DH, according to the government spokesman.
At the end of last October, Morocco’s budget deficit eased, standing at 25.1 billion DH against 47 billion DH a year earlier, according to the statement of Treasury charges and expenditures.
Despite the international situation, the Moroccan government will maintain subsidies to ensure price stability for butane gas, wheat and sugar on the domestic market in 2023.
The explosion in compensation fund expenses observed since the beginning of the year continues. At the end of May, the charges increased by 16 billion dirhams compared to the budget forecasts.
In order to mitigate the effects of the rise in world prices and raw material prices, the government has resorted to subsidies. As of the end of April, compensation expenses amounted to nearly 11.8 billion dirhams, compared to 6.3 billion dirhams in 2021, an increase of +87% year-on-year.
Due to the rise in prices linked to the Russian-Ukrainian crisis and the drought that has been raging in the kingdom since the beginning of the year, the budget of the compensation fund should increase by more than 15 billion dirhams. The Akhannouch government hopes to maintain the purchasing power of Moroccans.
The Moroccan government has announced the implementation of strong measures to guarantee the stability of electricity rates on the domestic market, despite the international situation.
Government spokesman Mustapha Baitas commented on the Russia-Ukraine crisis, stating that it will have no impact on the supply of the domestic market.
For the month of January 2021, the subsidy on butane gas and sugar reached 1.196 billion dirhams (MDH) compared to 1.236 billion dirhams in January 2020. This is what the recent information bulletin from the Compensation Fund indicated.
The overall burden of compensation for consumer subsidies stood at nearly 5.07 billion dirhams (BMDH) for the first four months of 2020, according to the latest information bulletin from the Compensation Fund. A year earlier, it stood at 4.64 BMDH during the same period.