RABAT (Reuters) – The Moroccan government has prepared a draft budget envisaging economic growth at 4%, a fiscal deficit at 4.5% of GDP and inflation at 2%, Finance Minister Nadia Fettah Alaoui said on Tuesday.
The economy is expected to slow to 0.8% growth this year following the worst drought in decades while inflation- mostly due to external factors- is expected to surge to 6.3% this year, according to most recent central bank data.
The draft budget will push forward with targeted subsidies through the implementation of a national register and the generalisation of social safety nets as well as the upgrade of health services, the minister was quoted as saying in a Royal palace statement.
The palace also announced the appointment of former finance minister and current Moroccan ambassador to Paris, Mohamed Benchaaboun, as head of the newly created Mohammed VI fund for investment.
The fund aims notably to increase the private sector’s share of total investment in the economy to two-thirds by 2035 from only one-third now.
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(Reporting by Ahmed El Jechtimi; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)