The Minister, responding to a question in the Chamber of Councilors on "facilitating access to finance and job creation for enterprises", said that these mechanisms are mainly linked to the "Damane" offer (guarantee), the strengthening of collaborative financing in support of the micro-credit sector, as well as to the consolidation of its contribution to financial inclusion and to support income-generating activities.
It noted that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the most vulnerable to economic shocks and fluctuations compared to large enterprises and face difficulties in accessing bank financing because of their specificities, the nature of their structuring and their working conditions.
As regards the reform of the guarantee system, Mr. FETTAH mentioned the rationalization of the guarantee offer by structuring and reducing the number of products to bring them together in favor of the targeted categories, in addition to the revision of the financing offer, with a view to improving its attractiveness for banks and contributing to the strengthening of the quasi-equity capital of SMEs that suffer from a lack of capital.
It added that the companies affected by the covid-19 crisis benefited from guarantee mechanisms such as "Damane Oxygène" which covers 95% of the amount of loans in favor of companies whose cash flow has deteriorated due to the decline in their activity, and "Covid-19 Self-Contractor Guarantee" covering 85% of the loans granted to self-contractors.
It is also "TPE Recovery" which guarantees 95% of the loans granted to very small enterprises (TPEs) with a turnover of less than 10 million dirhams (MDH) and "Damane Recovery" whose guarantee ratio varies from 80 to 90% for the benefit of SMEs and large enterprises which reach a return of more than 10 MDH, in addition to "Damane Hotel Recovery" and "Damane Real Estate Promotion", said the Minister.
Despite the adverse effects of the pandemic on the national economic fabric, guarantee activities in the first nine months of 2021 have shown a remarkable change compared to the same period in 2020, she noted.
At the same time, the Minister indicated that the State intervention in favor of enterprises has reached more than 271 thousand credits with financing of around 45.6 billion dirhams (MMDH).
This funding, she said, is spread over the normal activity with 58,584 credits of 33.6 MMDH and the covid-19 mechanisms (213 credits of nearly 12 MMDH), noting that the activities "funding fund" dedicated to collaborative financing reached a volume of 59.7 MMDH in the first nine months of 2021.
In addition, she assured that, as part of the support and diversification of the mechanisms of access to finance for enterprises, the Integrated Enterprise Support and Financing Program "Intelaka" was launched to strengthen the current offers of the Central Guarantee Fund (CCG) with three new products for newly created and exporting enterprises, namely "Damane Intelak", "Damane Intelak Al Moustatmir Al Qarawi" and "Start-TPE".
Since the launch of this program in February 2020 and until the end of September 2021, more than 24 thousand companies have been financed with a volume exceeding 5.8 MMDH capable of creating more than 67,000 jobs, she noted.
She also stressed that the Executive intends to give a new dynamic to this program through the launch of the "Forsa" program to support individual initiatives with the objective of enabling young people from different social categories to benefit from honor loans targeting types of projects that do not fall within the scope of funding granted to small businesses and start-ups.
In addition, Ms. FETTEH recalled the adoption in 2020 of a law to act on the transformation of the CGC into a public limited company in order to adapt it to its new reality, taking into account best practices in the field of guarantees worldwide.
The main strategic objectives targeted by the adoption of the law on the organization of the CGC are to devote the latter as a tool of the State in the matter of public guarantees, to improve its governance and to modernize the financial management of its commitments, she said, adding that this new framework will allow the CGC to accompany public strategies and policies in terms of facilitating access to finance in a sustainable manner.
As regards the implementation of the National Strategy for Financial Inclusion, its aim is to make financial inclusion a real factor of economic and social development, in particular for companies that have a roadmap to facilitate access to finance for SMEs and start-ups, by accelerating the development of financing mechanisms and creating new ones, as well as developing the necessary means to limit credit risks.
In this regard, Ms. FETTAH said that the government had raised the ceiling on micro-loans from 50,000 to 150,000 dirhams to accompany the TPEs in obtaining financing, noting that the review of the legal and regulatory framework for micro-financing would continue to diversify the offers that could include micro-saving and micro-insurance.
To ensure the necessary conditions for strengthening the access of SMEs, start-ups and project holders to financial products, a national strategy on financial literacy has been developed and the legal framework governing the activity of credit information companies (Credit Bureau) has been developed to provide credit institutions with the necessary financial information on customers, she recalled.
These measures, concluded the Minister, will help to support the competitiveness of businesses and create and preserve jobs, which will diversify the productive capacities of the national economy and increase its competitiveness and sustainability.