Morocco to gradually subsidise basic goods until 2020

The Moroccan government is planning to gradually raise subsidies for gas, sugar and flour up until 2020, according to Prime Minister Saad Eddin Othmani.

The information was revealed during a session held at the House of Advisors in parliament in which Othmani spoke about the reforms to be introduced, which will include subsidising basic materials which he described as “inevitable” in achieving social justice.

The previous government had lifted support for hydrocarbons by the end of 2015 as part of plans to reduce the budget deficit.

According to Othmani, reducing the value of subsidies “reduced the burden on the state treasury, and enabled the provision of additional possibilities in projects and social programs.”

Othmani stressed that the decision to lift subsidies on oil, sugar and flour “will not be before 2020”. In return, he pledged to increase the funds allocated to the financing of social development policies and programmes and to support vulnerable and needy groups.

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