This is an amount that will vary between 800 and 1,200 dirhams per month

Marruecos dará ayuda monetaria a millones de hogares más pobres por la crisis

AFP/FADEL SENNA - A homeless person sleeps on the side of a road while a Moroccan Ministry of Health worker disinfects the wall of a building in the capital Rabat on 22 March 2020

EFE

29 de marzo de 2020 (10:14 h.)

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The Government of Morocco has decided to provide monthly direct aid to the poorest households, many of which are dependent on informal sector workers who have lost their jobs after last week's health scare to curb the coronavirus.

The distribution of this aid will be effective from April 6 and will last three months, as decided by the Economic Monitoring Committee, composed of several ministries to respond to the effects of COVID 19.

This aid will be distributed in two phases: the first will be for people registered with the medical assistance scheme for the poorest (RAMED), who will receive a monthly allowance of between 800 and 1,200 dirhams (between 72 and 108 euros) depending on the number of family members.

The Ministry of Economy and Finance explained in a statement that there will be a second phase of direct aid for people working in the informal sector who do not have any social security or contract.

The note did not give an estimate of the people who will benefit from these measures, but the minister of the sector, Mohamed Benchaaboun, indicated in a recent interview that the aid will benefit some 4 million families.

Created on 11th March last, the Economic Supervisory Committee had previously taken a series of measures to help companies in difficulty because of the coronavirus crisis such as exempting them from paying their obligations to the social security fund or establishing a moratorium on the payment of their debts to banks.

For employees in the formal sector who will lose their jobs because of this crisis, aid of 2,000 dirhams (180 euros) was allocated over the next three months.

The budget for all this aid will be guaranteed by the Special Fund against Coronavirus, created by King Mohammed VI, with contributions from the state and private donations.

With the declaration on 20 March of a compulsory health confinement throughout the country, several sectors were affected by the measure, specifically tourism and transport among others, in addition to the suspension of a number of jobs and day jobs such as coffee waiters, shop workers, craftsmen and others.