The House of Councilors adopted by a majority, Tuesday, December 16th 2014, the first part of the Finance Bill 2015 with 53 votes in favor and 49 abstentions.
The Minister of Economy and Finance, who answered, Monday, December 15th 2014 questions from parliamentary groups in the House of Councilors, stated that the Finance Bill (PLF) 2015 includes all contributing factors to be a crucial turning point in the Moroccan model of development.
Mr. Mohammed BOUSSAID stressed that the Government’s approach is in line with the High Royal Directives especially as it is based on enhancing and consolidating the achievements of the Moroccan model of development and eliminating imbalances, able to achieve a stable growth including all social groups as well as areas and regions of the Kingdom.
"The renewal of the development model does not mean that the approach based on supporting domestic demand has reached its limits," explained the Minister adding that the choice of such a form of measure can be explained by the constraints of the crisis and maintaining social balances, helping to protect the country against serious abuses experienced by several countries in the region.
"The Moroccan model demonstrated its resilience to the extent that the Kingdom has managed to maintain a constantly changing growth rate," said Mr. BOUSSAID stressing that "domestic demand as a major driver of national economic growth has shown great dynamics supported by a modern, strong and structured financial sector, thus making it possible to mitigate the impact of the decline in external demand and maintain the country's economic stability in a context of world financial and economic crisis”.
Moreover, the Minister of Economy and Finance argued that investment is one of the pillars of the economic model of Moroccan development, based on the strengthening of domestic demand (consumption / investment) and the diversification of sources of growth. He has, in this respect, recalled that gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) achieved an annual fixed growth rate of 5.3% during the period from 2000 to 2013 against 3.8% in the 1990s.
"This performance is the result of the public investment policy (180.3 billion dirhams in 2013 against 47.5 in 2003), making this policy a key vehicle for national and foreign private investment and a driving force of the economy,” stated the Minister.
Mr. BOUSSAID also recalled the Government’s efforts to restore macroeconomic balances, stating that the budget deficit should be controlled around 4.3% in 2015 against 7% in 2012 and 4.9% in 2014, while the balance of payments deficit is expected to be around 6.7% in 2015.
Speaking about the distribution of wealth, the Minister drew attention to the need to set up wealth creation mechanisms before mentioning its distribution, noting in this regard that the Government’s concern is to develop mechanisms to encourage the integration of all social groups in the creation of wealth. The goal is to achieve integrated development.