Morocco Rules Out Immediate Increase in Butane Gas Prices

The increase in the price of butane gas "is not on the government’s agenda," said Fouzi Lekjaa, Minister Delegate to the Minister of Economy and Finance, in charge of the Budget. He was responding to an oral question on "the impact of the increase in the price of gas in Morocco," asked by the Ittihadi socialist group - opposition, in the House of Representatives. According to his explanations, the government annually devotes more than 15 billion dirhams (MMDH) to subsidizing the consumption of butane gas, "a support intended in principle for the most destitute categories, who need it the most."

"The most vulnerable categories, i.e. the poorest 20% of the population, only benefit from 14% of this support, while the wealthiest categories, i.e. the richest 20%, benefit from 27% of it, i.e. twice as much as the most destitute categories," the minister noted, stressing that "the real problem with the support for butane gas, as with other subsidized products, lies in the lack of targeting of the beneficiaries." According to him, it is up to the government and the various components of Parliament to "find the most effective mechanisms to ensure that this support reaches the destitute categories for whom it was established."

Direct support, through targeted monetary transfers to vulnerable categories, is thus "the most appropriate solution, because these categories deserve this aid, just as they must benefit from the budgetary margins that the government can generate by optimizing this system," Lekjaa noted.