Highlights

For the Minister, the organic bill on Finance acts is the outcome of the joint efforts of both the legislative and executive institutions, to set up a financial legislative framework able to accompany the democratic process and the dynamics of our country’s development under the leadership of his Majesty the King may God assist him. In this context, Mr. BOUSSAID stated that the goal of this project is to implement a qualitative change in the management of public finances. This program constitutes also an essential pillar in the process of implementing the provisions of the Constitution. Likewise, it attempts to set the principles of transparency as well as to establish the link between responsibility and follow-up by the competent authorities. 

THE OBJECTIVES OF THE ORGANIC BILL ON FINANCE ACTS 

In his speech, the Minister presented the five objectives of the Organic Bill on Finance Acts that appear through:

• Updating the current Organic Act in order to be adapted to the new constitutional provisions, particularly in the public finances area;
  
•  Strengthening the role of the Finance Act as a main tool for implementing public policies and sector- based strategies in order to achieve economic and social development and to ensure an equal distribution of the benefits of growth;
  
• Intensifying the effectiveness and the efficiency of the public policies and their adaptation as well as the improvement of the quality of the public services offered to citizens and the control of their costs. It also includes the reinforcement of the responsibility for the managers with regard to the realization of the objectives according to the financial resources granted;
  
• Strengthening the financial balance as well as the transparency of public finances and the legibility of the budget
  
• The intensification and enhancement of the role of Parliament at the financial control level and the evaluation of public policies. 
  

THE MAIN HEADINGS UNDERLYING THE ORGANIC BILL ON FINANCE ACTS

In his speech, the Minister of Economy and Finance stated that the Organic Bill on Finance Acts is based on three main axes.

The first is on the obligation of preparing the Finance Act on the basis of a multi-annual program covering three years, updated annually and which takes into account the preservation of the State’s financial balance. The objective is to achieve better management of public finances and strengthen the harmony between sector-based policies to ensure their effectiveness and improve their performance. Within this framework, Mr. BOUSSAID specified that the purpose of the reform is to establish a direct link between public expenditure and the achievement of results, to link budget management to achieving measurable results that meet pre-established objectives and to highlight the financial commitments that are assigned to them, with a basis of the regional dimension.

Regarding the second area on strengthening the transparency of public finances and financial bases, the Minister stressed that the Bill proposes clearly the introduction of the dimension of the accuracy of the budget in the organic law, to guarantee the quality of estimated resources and expenditure as well as the accuracy of the assumptions on which is based the process of preparing the budget act. The aim is also to confirm the commitment to present finance acts fitted with taking account of the available data during the preparation and in the event of substantial changes in terms of the priorities of the Finance Act. Furthermore, Mr. BOUSSAID specified that the project aims to enhance the accounting relating to the State Budget through an accounting system for an improved monitoring of the public services and the efforts to master the expenses allocated. He also indicated that the bill proposes the streamlining of the creation and management of the special Treasury accounts and the State Services managed in an Autonomous Way.

As regards the third axis which appears through intensifying the parliamentary control over public finances, the Minister of Economy and Finance claimed that it helps to increase the role of the Parliament during the debate on the Finance Act and this, through the enhancement of the information presented by the Government, the amendment of the temporal program for the development of the Finance Acts and the review of their own voting methods.

Lastly, Monsieur Boussaid specified that the project proposes the implementation of the reform’s provisions over a period of five years from the year following its publication in the official gazette.