2023-12-29 11:06:31
Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch. ©DR
Published on December 29, 2023
Lecture : 1 minute.
Morocco announced Monday, December 25 that nearly a million disadvantaged families would receive monthly direct aid for the first time, starting December 28, a system unprecedented in kingdom waited for years. Beneficiaries will receive at least 500 dirhams (a little more than 45 euros) per month “regardless of the composition of the family”, a precise Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch during a government council, quoted in a press release.
The implementation of this program will require a budget of 25 billion dirhams (approximately 2,3 billion euros) for 2024, government spokesperson Mustapha Baïtas indicated at the end of October. These targeted family aids – discussed for ten years without being implemented – are part of a vast social reform, driven by King Mohammed VI in 2020. This project also includes the generalization of social coverage for the benefit of all Moroccans, initiated in 2021.
Social disparities
Compulsory health insurance, formerly reserved for civil servants and private sector employees, already benefits more than 3.8 million self-employed workers and their families, according to the Moroccan press agency MAP. This cover medical was also extended free of charge to more than 10 million disadvantaged people, with the State covering the cost of their contributions.
These social reforms are deployed in a context of slowdown in the economy and profound social disparities that affect this country of 36 million inhabitants. The kingdom is expected to record a growth rate of 2.7% and inflation of 6.1% in 2023. according to the latest estimates from the central bank of Morocco.
Until then, social aid was indirect and not targeted; Morocco subsidized certain consumer products via a compensation fund. This must be the subject of a reform – the date of which has not been set – to make way for targeted aid in favor of couches disadvantaged.
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