Morocco Launches Aid Program for Transport Sector Amid Rising Fuel Costs

More support for transport professionals. In a press release, the Ministry of Transport and Logistics announces that the registration process for the granting of direct financial aid to transport professionals will be launched on March 8. It invites them to register via the electronic platform mouakaba.transport.gov.ma, in order to obtain this aid. Launched for the first time in 2022 in the form of 10 installments between June 2022 and 2023, this aid program relieves passenger and freight transport professionals who are facing the surge in fuel prices. This measure also aims to reduce the impact of the rise in fuel prices on transport prices. According to data from the department of Mohammed Abdeljalil, the total cost of fuel subsidies reached 5 billion dirhams.

However, this exceptional support does not meet with unanimous approval. Several road transport professionals have criticized the government for not paying them their share of the subsidies. According to union sources, 40% of the workers who applied for the support program did not receive subsidies. Professionals estimate that the subsidies are insufficient to offset the rise in fuel prices. The government should rather subsidize fuel prices at the pump instead of handing out cash to transport professionals, some voices have suggested. In response to these comments, the Minister of Economy and Finance, Nadia Fetah Alaoui, stated that the granting of "large-scale" subsidies was "beyond the reach of the state budget".

"Direct support for gasoline and diesel is detrimental to the national economy," the Competition Council said in a report published in September 2022, noting that this measure "has shown its limits" in the past "since it has monopolized significant public funds, exceeding 50 billion dirhams in 2012, which is equivalent to the budget of the Ministry of National Education." The Council then proposes to review the regulations governing the fuel market in Morocco in order to strengthen its competitiveness and fight against predatory practices that "could" be at the origin of the rise in fuel prices.