Mr. Sallaheddine MEZZOUAR, Minister of Economy and Finance, presided on Monday, November 25th 2008, the meeting of the consultative Council on Microcredit.
Mr. MEZZOUAR informed the meeting that the public authorities have been constantly working to improve the legal and institutional framework of microcredit. He added that the state has carried out a policy aiming at mobilizing the necessary resources from international donors, especially within bilateral cooperation schemes and through the support of the Millennium Challenge Account with an envelope of US$64 million.
As to the participation of microcredit associations in the implementation of INDH (the National Initiative for Human Development), Mr. MEZZOUAR asked the National Federation of Microcredit Associations to double its effort to implement the framework agreement they signed with the government before His Majesty the King Mohammed VI on December 15th 2005.
Mr. MEZZOUAR said that is sector has witnessed significant progress, especially in the last five years. He also stated that microcredit associations are now in critical turn of their development.
In the light of this evolution, Mr. MEZZOUAR pointed out that the sector`s upward trend should be minutely analyzed in order to identify the potential factors that could hinder its progress. He stated that the application of prudential rules, the future opening of Credit Bureau, the progressive recourse to conventional guarantees and a sustained effort in terms of debt collection would be noticeable advances that could favor a healthy and harmonious development of the microcredit sector.