2014, exceptional year for Moroccan government action

Communication minister, government spokesperson Mustapha El Khalfi said Thursday that 2014 was an exceptional year for government action thanks to achievements and undertaken reforms.
The year 2014 was rich with undeniable accomplishments at the economic, social and organizational levels, said El Khalfi at a press briefing after the weekly cabinet meeting chaired by head of government Abdelilah Benkirane .
Economically, this year was marked by stopping oil products subsidies which helped control deficit levels and bring down the subsidy fund budget from 56 billion dirhams in 2013 to 35 billion dirhams in 2014, he underlined, saying that this budget will be further decreased to 23 bln MAD in 2015.
Socially, this year witnessed the launch of the dialogue on civil pensions’ reform and a large-scale project on civil society which led to making March 13 a National Day for Civil Society, he said.
El Khalfi also recalled the implementation, in the same year, of anti-corruption measures which enabled Morocco to gain 12 points in the Corruption Perceptions Index by Transparency International.
2014 was also marked by the reduction of medicine prices, the implementation of job loss allowance, the adoption of a draft law on compensation for work accidents and the generalization of university scholarships, he said.