Mr. Mohammed BOUSSAID, Minister of Economy and Finance, gave Friday, October 24th, 2014 in Rabat, a press conference on the finance bill for the year 2015, which was attended by some 60 of Moroccan press bodies and reporters accredited to Morocco.
The Minister was accompanied by the Minister delegate in charge of the Budget, the Treasurer General of the Kingdom, Directors-General responsible for taxes and customs and the directors of the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
At this meeting, the Minister assured that the PLF 2015 is not an austerity budget. It contains no budget cuts and includes no new taxes. In this respect, Mr. BOUSSAID affirmed that fiscal pressure moved from 27% in 2008 to 22.3% in 2013, with the aim of strengthening the competitiveness of Moroccan companies.
In his statement, the
Minister noted that the PLF 2015 was prepared in an uncertain international context , with a growth stagnation in the Eurozone, main economic partner of Morocco and the continuation of geopolitical tensions, particularly in the Middle East region, while at the national level, the Moroccan economy saves significant and positive performance of the promising prospects.
Mr. BOUSSAID also drew the attention of the audience to the priorities of the PLF 2015 which includes the improvement of the competitiveness of the national economy, the promotion of private investment, support to businesses, the acceleration of major structural reforms, the implementation of regionalization, the reduction of social and spatial disparities, as well as the promotion of employment. Among its priorities are also strengthening the positioning of Morocco as a locomotive in the South-South relations, both with the countries of sub-Saharan Africa and the Arab countries, the activation and a better exploitation of free trade agreements linking the Kingdom with its economic partners, and the diversification of partnerships and the strengthening of the opening on the emerging economic powers.
The Minister also announced that the PLF 2015 provides for the acceleration of the reform of pension plans, through an approach to the preservation of their financial stability and sustainability, as well as the preservation of the rights acquired by officials.
On tax reform, Mr. BOUSSAID stressed that the PLF 2015 guarantees its continuation through namely the VAT reform, the widening of the tax base, the strengthening of fiscal equity and the simplification of administrative procedures. On the reform of the compensation, he stated that the project will also continue this reform with the aim of preserving the financial balances and savings to injecting them into productive investment and social services