Mr. Mohammed BOUSSAID, Minister of Economy and Finance and Mrs. Marie Françoise Marie-Nelly, the World Bank Country Director for the Maghreb and Malta, signed Wednesday, December 2nd , 2015 in Rabat, the financing agreement concerning the second development policy loan for transparency and accountability (the Hakama program - second phase) in the amount of US $ 200 million (2 billion dirhams).
In his speech, the Minister welcomed the conclusion of the second support operation of the Hakama program with the World Bank. "This second operation is motivated by significant progress in the public governance field, including strengthening governance in budget, public spending, public-private partnerships, public companies and institutions as well as strengthening the territorial governance and green governance, "stated Mr. BOUSSAID.
The Minister also asserted that the 2011 Constitution established a new vision of public governance by setting up the reference for the reform of public administration and good governance notably in terms of collaboration as a basis for development, the implementation and evaluation of public policies, the right to information, the citizens' access to public services, the constitutionality of the concept of public service, the administration’s responsibility to report on the management of public funds and the setting up of governance bodies and the promotion of public services.
The representative of the World Bank emphasized, on the other hand, the scale of good governance for the economic and social development of a country, as indicated by the importance of intangible capital in many countries and Morocco in particular, where it accounts 63% of the total wealth of the country.
Specifying that the institutional capital (the adequacy of institutions and rules) and social capital (their enforcement) are two major components of this intangible capital, Mrs. Marie-Nelly highlighted that the ambitious constitutional reforms, supported by the loans series of the 'Hakama’ development policies, allow it to further enhance institutional capital and strengthen the application for citizens, thus contributing to the consolidation of trust and social capital.
"The adoption of these new policies and reforms enshrined in the signing of this loan represents a major achievement as well as the beginning of a second stage; that of the proactive and effective implementation of these new rights and tools. The latter will result in tangible improvements for citizens and enable Morocco to fully take profit from its intangible capital, "stated the representative of the World Bank before expressing her great satisfaction to further the rich and fruitful partnership linking Morocco and the World Bank.
The 'Hakama II' program revolves around two axes: the first axis focuses on strengthening transparency and accountability in the management of public resources, particularly through adopting a performance-based budgeting, enhancing competition and transparency in public procurement and public-private partnerships, improving financial control and the governance of public companies and institutions (EEP) and modernizing governance and local financial management. The second axis concerns the promotion of open governance by improving budget transparency and access to information and strengthening civic expression and citizen engagement.