House of Representatives Adopts Three Government Bills of Financial Nature
The House of Representatives adopted, on Monday, December 14th, 2020, Government Bill 76.20 on the creation of the "Mohammed VI Investment Fund,” Liquidation Bill 21.20 for the fiscal year 2018, and Government Bill 70.20 ratifying Decree-law 2.20.665 of September 30th, 2020 (Safar 12th, 1442) on restructuring CASABLANCA FINANCE CITY. The adoption took place during a plenary sitting chaired by Speaker of the House of Representatives Habib El Malki, with the participation of Minister of Economy, Finance, and Administration Reform Mohamed Benchaâboun.
In his address on this occasion, the Minister stated that the bill on the creation of the “Mohammed VI Investment Fund” comes under the high instructions of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may God assist him, contained in his Royal Speech of July 29th, 2020, in which the Sovereign outlined the major strategic orientations to be implemented to manage the crisis in Morocco caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The first is the launch of an economic stimulus plan that will allow productive sectors to recover, increase their ability to create jobs, and maintain revenue sources.
The creation of this fund, as a joint-stock company with a board of directors, falls within the framework of the abovementioned plan, intending to contribute to the financing of major investment projects, consolidating the capital of companies, and supporting productive activities, in harmony and complementarity with sectoral strategies and public policies.
The Minister of Economy, Finance, and Administration Reform also introduced Liquidation Bill 21.20 for the fiscal year 2018, which delimits and fixes the final amount of collected revenues and expenditures in 2018 and closes the year’s statement of accounts. The Minister highlighted that the Liquidation Bill is for the first time accompanied by a performance report and a performance audit report, as part of adopting results-based management at the level of the various departments and institutions concerned by the performance approach.
During the general discussion, the representatives of the majority groups and opposition groups and caucus within the House of Representatives commended the reduction of the time limit for the adoption of the Liquidation Law, lauding the role of the Court of Accounts and its regional branches in the publication of reports that provide references for parliamentary action.
The deputies called for ensuring compliance with the legal deadlines for the Liquidation Law, the quality of the submission, and simplifying public finance figures' readability to ensure credibility and help the deputies carry out their functions in parliamentary control. They also stressed the importance of improving financial transparency and consolidating the Parliament's role in exercising its task of controlling public finances and public spending.
The House of Representatives also adopted Government Bill 70.20 ratifying Decree-law 2.20.665 of September 30th, 2020 (Safar 12th, 1442) on restructuring CASABLANCA FINANCE CITY after the Finance and Economic Development Committee had adopted the Decree-law mentioned above in the inter-session period.