Amadeus Institute July roundtable : Public finances and reforms
Public Finances and its imbrication in the perspective of reforms were at the heart of a debate meeting organized on July 12th at the Amadeus Institute.
It aimed at addressing a serene reading of the budgetary policy conducted by the current government in the light of the last concessions granted in a social tumult and the Arab Spring framework.
The main challenge here was to assess the efforts to reach a balance between public Finances and social peace, taking into account quest of a new competitiveness of Moroccan exportations, necessary restructuration of the Compensation Fund and also the growing threats on Morocco’s sovereignty rating.
This workshop was attended by Mrs Nadia Salah and Mr Driss Benali, both economic experts, M. Abdeslam Seddiki, PPS politburo member, M. Mamoun Thari Joutei, BMCE Researcher Director, M. Badr Alioua, Attijari Wafa Bank, M. Zakaria Arifi from Minister of Economy and Finances, Mrs Nadia Lamlili, Editor of Economie et Entreprises review, Mrs Benhida, university professor at ESCA high school as well as Amadeus Institute staff.
Evaluating the Morocco current public deficit, the different speakers did not miss out on highlight the worrying, serious but not dramatic situation. Indicators are indeed alarming but in the regional (Arab spring) and international (European economic crisis) context, the kingdom is not an exception within the global economic slump.
The social peace, funded through two powders: salaries of public officials and compensation Fund, is the perfect illustration of the short term current policy in a context of uncertain future. Often contested, the matter is not the decision to raise salaries of civil servant but rather the lack of productivity and the still handicapping cost of strikes and most of all the absence of consideration of the human capital.
The macro-economic balance, being a major imperative, all the attendance affirmed that the challenge for the next government will be very tough.
The latter is called to massively invest in policies devoted to human capital through the improvement of education quality in order to reach a better productivity. Very often, excluded at the expense of infrastructure projects, the policies of entrepreneurship have to be developed because they are one of the key vectors for a sustainable growth.
A better productivity will largely contribute to redress the commercial balance which undergoes a worrying deterioration because ongoing rising of alimentary and energetic bills.
Among the propositions also evoked: the reform of fiscality though the latter will have to integrate the reality of informal economy in the country. Looking for niches is another option within a country where there are too many firms which don’t pay taxes. With a situation where there is a failure from the State to render the law respected, the citizen participation still a very abstract notion in the Moroccan firm governance modalities.
In a more than ever globalized market also flooded by an over offer of unskilled labor, Moroccan firms have to achieve true efforts in economic intelligence and information access, key elements to enhance their ability to seize opportunities.
Last prominent subject discussed during this meeting: the Compensation Fund and the necessity of improving the targeting approach to reach the populations that must benefit from its services.
However this reform is expected to be progressive in order to avoid any social and political turmoil.
The examples of other success stories in the field, conducted in Chili through the Solidarios Program or in Mexico with the Opportunidades development initiatives exposed during the workshop helped to ensure that the political will is paramount to achieve reforms.
