All Africa
Maghreb Arabe Presse (Rabat)
Morocco succeeded this year in bringing its debt under control, not exceeding 65% of GDP, said, Monday in Rabat, minister delegate for relations with parliament and civil society, government spokesperson Mustapha El Khalfi.
This fact is due to the reduction of the budget deficit which fell from 7% to 3.5% and which is expected to continue dropping to reach 3%, said El Khalfi at a press briefing after the weekly cabinet meeting.
Morocco succeeded in establishing rules of transparency in budget management, he said, recalling the yearly presentation to the parliament of a report on the debt situation, on the occasion of examining the appropriation bill, in addition to issuing updated periodic reports.
Debt management is currently governed by the provisions of the organic law on the appropriation bill, which stipulates that debt can finance only the investment or the payment of old debts and not the operating expenses, with the aim of improving the conditions and interest rates of indebtedness, he said.
In this regard, the Minister underlined the impact of public investments on infrastructure, employment and support for small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as the role of these investments in cases of risks that jeopardize public finances.
In 2013, the government was forced to freeze 25% of the budget dedicated to public investment, as part of the general budget of the State, due to deficit worsening caused by several commitments related to public finances, he said, adding that public investment currently amounts to 68 billion dirhams.
In the same vein, he said that active debt management is now applied to domestic debt, as well as to external debt.
