El Gobierno de Marruecos centra los esfuerzos en mejorar el poder adquisitivo de los ciudadanos

On the occasion of the worldwide celebration of Workers' Day on 1 May, the Moroccan government has highlighted its firm commitment to continue fighting for a better situation for Moroccan workers.

The government led by Aziz Akhannouch showed its full willingness to involve trade unions in planning for better working conditions in the North African country, as Younes Sekkouri, Moroccan Minister of Economic Inclusion, Small Business, Employment and Competition, stressed.

In this regard, Younes Sekkouri explained in Rabat the government's decision to create a social monitoring committee composed of representatives of the Executive and social partners in order to set out an integrated vision for improving the conditions of workers and protecting the purchasing power of citizens, all in connection with the preparation of the Finance Law of 2024.

"The agreement on the formation of this committee reflects the conviction of the government and the social partners to pursue action in order to find innovative solutions to all the social dossiers on the table of dialogue," Sekkouri said in statements made on the occasion of the celebration of Workers' Day, as reported by the Moroccan news agency MAP.

As for the formation of the social vigilance committee made up of government representatives and social partners, the executive is seeking cooperation with the social partners to establish a joint line of action aimed at improving the conditions of Moroccan citizens, with the aim of maintaining or increasing their purchasing power. 

The Moroccan minister stressed that the executive seeks to protect the consumer and combat the upward deviation of prices, caused by internal and external circumstances, which can greatly affect national workers. In this line, various ministries of the country worked together to monitor price developments by supervising market activity in various regions of the Moroccan kingdom. 

The government led by Aziz Akhannouch continues to show its interest in alleviating the situation of Moroccan citizens in the face of the current problems they are going through, especially the worrying lack of water due to the drought and the high inflation that not only affects Morocco, but is hitting the world due to the existing global crisis unleashed by geostrategic problems such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Younes Sekkouri indicated that the government continues to work to protect and improve the purchasing power of Moroccans in the current difficult situation caused by these pressing problems.

Thus, as one of the initiatives implemented, the executive has injected 5 billion dirhams into the National Office of Electricity and Drinking Water to keep the price of electricity in Morocco at its current levels, while its price has multiplied three to ten times in several countries, including nations around Morocco. 

The minister pointed out that the state budget bears about 75 dirhams out of every 100 dirhams and 125 dirhams out of every 200 dirhams paid by the citizen in the water and electricity bill, noting that these amounts could be allocated to other areas, but that the government strives to maintain and improve as much as possible the purchasing power of citizens despite the difficulties.

Sekkouri further pointed out that the government has subsidised butane gas with more than 22 billion dirhams, and that the state contributes more than 90 dirhams on each cylinder of butane gas purchased by the citizen, in addition to the support provided by the government to maintain the prices of some commodities (4.8 billion dirhams for sugar, and 10.5 billion dirhams for wheat).

Last week, the Moroccan government held a round of social dialogue with trade unions and employers and it was agreed to resume talks next September to agree on action plans for the working class. 

The latest round of talks focused on mechanisms to improve the purchasing power of citizens and respond to the aspirations of the working class, during which the government emphasised the importance of passing a series of laws, including the Labour Law and the Strike Law (under parliamentary supervision) in a participatory approach. The government of Aziz Akhannouch thus seeks to work with the social partners to reach compromise solutions to the economic and social challenges facing Morocco.