"This project provides for appropriate support mechanisms for the gradual recovery of economic activity and the preservation of jobs, while improving the efficiency of the administration based on backing the gradual recovery of economic activity, the preservation of jobs and accelerating the implementation of administrative reforms," Benchaâboun said during a joint session of the two Houses of Parliament devoted to the presentation of the PLFR-2020.
In this regard, the minister stressed that the elaboration of the PLFR is based on a new financial balance that takes into account the decline in budget revenues of about 40 billion dirhams, and the revision of priorities with regard to expenditure by reducing operating expenses by 4.3 bln dirhams and increasing investments by MAD 7.5 billion.
Concerning the support of the gradual recovery of economic activity, he said that the government would attach particular importance to accompanying and backing the national enterprises affected in order to help them gradually resume their activities, noting that the measures to be put in place under the agreements with the various sectors would take account of the specific features of each sector, the scale of the impact suffered by the enterprises and the period needed for them to resume their activities.
Sectoral measures will support the adoption of a set of guarantee mechanisms to finance credits for the benefit of public and private enterprises with an interest rate not exceeding 3.5%, a 7-year repayment period with a two-year grace period, and a state guarantee ranging from 80% to 95%, depending on the number of transactions.
Benchaâboun explained in this regard that the Central Guarantee Fund (CCG) will be responsible for managing this guarantee system, noting that to this end, the CCG will be subject to an institutional reform, and a financial package of 5 billion dirhams will be allocated to it by the coronavirus pandemic management Fund, in order to cover the risks related to the non-payment of companies benefiting from the guarantee.
In this context, he added, enterprises benefiting from the guarantee mechanisms are required to preserve jobs and reduce the volume of their debts by at least 50% of the loans granted.
As part of the review of priorities with regard to expenditure, the minister referred to the increase in budget investment to 86 billion dirhams, which made it possible to mobilize 15 million dirhams that will be devoted to accelerating the recovery of the national economy, stressing that special attention will be paid to encouraging local product mainly by operationalizing the national preference for national enterprises, national materials and products in the context of public procurement.
In addition to the operationalization of the mechanisms in force with regard to national preference, the PLFR provides for an important measure aimed at strengthening the protection of national production and encouraging the substitution of imports by local production, he said.
As part of the measures to support the sectors affected by the coronavirus pandemic, the minister indicated that PLFR-2020 also proposes the reduction of registration fees applicable to the acquisition of real estate for residential use in order to revive the real estate sector.