Speaker of House of Representatives Holds Talks with Delegation from International Monetary Fund

Speaker of House of Representatives Habib El Malki held talks, on Monday, October 26^th, 2020, with a delegation from the International Monetary Fund, lead by Roberto Cardarelli, as part of the annual consultations run by the Fund.

During this meeting, which was held via videoconference, the Speaker of the House of Representatives presented the protective measures taken by our country at the onset of this year to mitigate the social and economic repercussions of the propagation of COVID-19. In this regard, he recalled the decision of His Majesty King Mohammed VI to create a fund dedicated to helping low-income families, assisting national enterprises, preserving job positions, and providing urgent and unforeseen needs in terms of medical equipment and materials.

Mr. El Malki also highlighted that His Majesty the King, in his latest speech delivered on the opening of the legislative year of the Parliament, launched a plan to revive the national economy, based on the creation of a strategic investment fund called "Mohammed VI Investment Fund," of a value of 15 billion dirhams provided by the State's budget. The Fund's goal is to promote investment, increase the national economy's abilities through assisting productive sectors, and fund and accompany great projects as part of public-private partnerships.

The Speaker of the House affirmed that COVID-19 had had negative impacts on world economies. In this context, he stated that "Morocco, as an open touristic country, faces economic and social challenges, but looks forward to seizing this opportunity to launch deep structural reforms," noting, in this regard, the reform of the healthcare system, universalizing social coverage, the promotion of agriculture and rural development, the reform of public institutions, the improvement of good governance, and other reforms.

For his part, the head of the delegation Roberto Cardarelli lauded the measures taken by our country to face the pandemic. In this respect, he highlighted that the precautionary liquidity line made available for Morocco had enabled it to reinforce its economy’s ability to face crises and mitigate the negative repercussions of the pandemic. He also expressed the will of the IMF to assist the national economy during the next period.

The meeting was an opportunity to exchange points of view on the means to boost the economy, the role of the House of Representatives in elaborating and implementing the various reforms, the main innovations introduced by the 2021 Draft Finance Bill, and other questions of mutual interest.