The expenses of the Compensation Fund should increase by more than 15 billion dirhams (MMDH) additional to the forecasts of the 2022 finance law, set at 17 billion dirhams, said Monday, the Head of Government, Aziz Akhannouch.
The expenses of the Compensation Fund amounted to 21.1 billion dirhams at the end of 2021, against forecasts of around 12.5 billion dirhams the same year, noted Mr. Akhannouch who was answering a central question in the Chamber of Representatives on “the situation of the national economy in the light of climate and geostrategic changes”, during a plenary session devoted to monthly oral questions addressed to the Head of Government.
The Executive, he said, is committed to coordinating with all professionals in order to stabilize prices and maintain their appropriate and usual level, stressing that consumer products will be subject to a monitoring and continuous monitoring. The government, for its part, will take the necessary measures in the event of abuse.
Mr. Akhannouch also recalled that the government has responded favorably to the demands of professionals in the transport sector, highlighting the financial support granted to them to maintain the stability of transport prices, in the face of the unprecedented rise global fuel prices.
In this sense, he said that some 180,000 vehicles belonging to different professional categories will benefit from this financial support, adding that other measures will be taken to mitigate the effects of the rise in raw material prices on national companies, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating under public procurement.
In this respect, the Head of Government noted that the Executive has been working, since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian crisis and the health crisis, to take the necessary measures to preserve the purchasing power of citizens and guarantee the supply of markets in basic food products, despite the external situation and climate change which called into question the forecasts of the finance law based on a growth rate of 3.2%.
And to note that in the light of the current global context marked by uncertainty and inflationary tensions, the government attaches crucial importance to monitoring price developments and has taken a series of measures to ensure their stability in order to preserve power. of purchases by Moroccan households.
In this sense, he said that the prices of certain products have reached record levels since the beginning of 2022, noting that those of oil have exceeded the ceiling of 133 dollars per barrel, with an average of 99.4 dollars. per barrel over the same period, while for gas prices reached $1,090 per ton with an average of $890 per ton in the first three months of 2022.
The same goes for the prices of imported food products, which have, in turn, seen a significant increase in recent weeks, especially wheat and sugar. Thus, wheat prices reached a ceiling of 457 dollars per ton (T), or even 500 dollars/T, with an average of 358 dollars/T, while sugar prices rose to 463 dollars/T, with an average of $440/T over the same period.
Mr. Akhannouch thus considered that the Russian-Ukrainian crisis, the effects of the health crisis and the repercussions of climate change are all factors that highlight the importance of accelerating the implementation of energy autonomy and the protection of food security.