Public Finance Control Committee Holds Meeting to Further Study the Report of the Court of Accounts on Public Institutions and Enterprises in Morocco
In the course of further studying the report of the Court of Accounts on "Public Institutions and Enterprises in Morocco: Strategic Depth and Governance," the Public Finance Control Committee held a meeting on Tuesday, June 2nd, 2020. The meeting was devoted to a presentation on the National Social Security Fund (CNSS) by the interim Director-General of the institution, with the participation of Minister of Employment and Vocational Integration Mohamed Amekraz.
At the beginning of the meeting, chaired by the Committee's chairperson Driss Sqalli Adaoui, the Minister noted that social protection is amongst the most critical projects in our country, considering the rapid changes that the world is witnessing, which are fueled by the economy, the logic of profit, and complications in the job market, which culminated in the loss of millions of job positions. This has put social protection at the heart of global discussions as it remains a perfect instrument to preserve the dignity of citizens and provide them with incomes that guarantee it. The Minister also highlighted that this importance has become more evident following the COVID-19 and the crisis it generated, primarily through the loss of millions of job positions, and the bankruptcy of several enterprises, which affected several essential economic activities.
In the same respect, Mr. Amekraz noted that the Government has been working on several programs that aim to improve the indicators of social protection and widen the latter's scope to enclose new groups and enhance the governance of its systems. These measures are embodied mainly in enlarging the groups that profit from the social protection systems to involve independent workers, Moroccan employees abroad, and domestic workers. The measures also aim to improve the eligibility requirements for the compensation system for loss of office, assisting the project of reforming the pension system, pursuing the development of the system of compensation for work accidents, and improving the governance and overseeing the activities of mutual associations.
On another note, the Minister of Employment and Vocational Integration stated that the Economic Monitoring Committee had taken several measures to preserve the spending power of registered workers who operate within formal sectors, and the ones in informal sectors. The National Social Security Fund has been entrusted with the task of implementing these measures for the profit of the workers registered with the Fund. The latter has been conducting the mission with high professionalism since the emergence of this crisis.
On his part, the interim Director-General of the National Social Security Fund gave a presentation on the following aspects:
- The primary data and indicators of the National Social Security Fund,
- The response of the Fund to the commentary of the Court of Accounts on managing the system of compulsory health insurance,
- The specific measures of the Fund to face the impacts of the outbreak of COVID-19.
About the indicators, the interim Director-General of the Fund noted that they witnessed a steady annual increase owed to the rise of the policyholders, and the number of cases and missions entrusted to the Fund, except for the indicator relative to the number of employees, which has been decreasing. This enabled the improvement of the management governance, through adopting new technologies since years ago, which improved the quality of services through digitizing management without resorting to more human resources.
As for the interaction of the Fund with the recommendations of the Court of Accounts, the official confirmed that the said institution is keen to adhere to those recommendations, and works hand in hand with the Ministry of Health and other relevant institutions to find the appropriate solutions for issues of legal nature.
Regarding the measures taken by the Fund to ensure the respect of the state of public health emergency, the interim Director-General of the Fund mentioned that the Fund suspended the submission of life and school certificates, which are no longer mandatory to benefit from the compensations, until further notice. The Fund also started admitting the expired compensation files from March 18th through the crisis. Their owners may submit these requests after resuming regular work. The Fund has also contributed to the health sector by putting five polyclinics at the disposal of the health authorities alongside their human and material resources to fight COVID-19. In addition, the National Social Security Fund contributed to the "Special Fund for the Management of COVID-19," established following the high directives of His Majesty, by 500 billion dirhams out of the subscriptions it has collected as part of the compensation for loss of office.
The interim Director-General noted the measures taken by the National Social Security Fund (CNSS) to implement the actions established by the Economic Monitoring Committee in favor of private enterprises and their workers. These measures manifest in paying monthly compensation and providing social advantages for the workers in a temporary cessation of work during March and April 2020.
Another meeting will be held on a future date with the Minister and the interim Director-General of the Fund to discuss the contents of this presentation.