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Weekly highlights Weekly highlights

The preparation of the Appropriations Bill has started

n A circular from the Head of pace of growth over the next five that will be presented to the Govern- offices, their equipment, and transpor-
Government sets out the main years is at the top of the government’s ment Council and to Parliament in July. tation inside and outside the country.
commitments. This translates into the Indeed, before the Finance Committee In addition, there is a reduction in the
guidelines implementation of a national and re- of the House of Representatives and of costs of accommodation, hospitality,
gional program to support startups in the House of Councilors, the Minister organization of festivities, congresses,
emerging sectors and encourage entre- makes a presentation on the implemen- and conferences. The same applies
T gramming commissions has preneurial initiative. The goal is also tation of the current Appropriations to expenditures related to the vehicle
HE schedule of meetings of
the three-year budget pro-
to speed up structural reforms of the Bill, the economic and financial situa- fleet. As far as studies are concerned,
been established. Discussions national economy, the first goal being tion, and presents the budgetary pro- the calls for tender will be subject to
between the Ministry of Finance and to make operational the Mohammed gramming for the next three years to prior authorizations, in accordance with
the departments and certain institutions VI Fund for Investment, seen as a lever come. the circular of last February 15. The
will start on April 11 and should end on for promoting production activities, • The administration must tighten its conduct of studies will have to be rein-
forced by the administration’s experts
the support, and the funding of various
May 12. This is at least what emerges investment projects. belt and executives.
from the circular that the Head of Go- The circular recommends rationali-
vernment has sent to the ministers to • Three-year programming at the zing the expenditures related to the • Three principles for the transfor-
prepare their proposals for the three- heart of the draft Appropriations functioning of the administration. It is mation of the national economy:
year budget programming, from 2023 Bill guidelines: After these preparatory a matter of reducing expenditures rela- From the economic standpoint, the
to 2025. A precise agenda is attached stages, it is this three-year programming ted to the rental of cars, administrative government has developed a roadmap
to that document. This is not the first to address the effects of the pandemic,
time that the Ministry of Finance has The forecasts for the world economy providing support to the transformation
used this practice. It started it in 2018, of the national economy to create job
in accordance with the requirements The effects of the pandemic and the 3.8% in 2023. The Eurozone will opportunities. This roadmap is based on
of the new Organic Law on Finance. international context constitute a li- experience an average growth of three principles aimed at consolidating
This shows that the preparation of the mitation to the prospects of the world 3.9% after the 5.2% posted in 2021. employment as a main axis of all public
draft Appropriations Bill starts from the economy. Compared to 2021, global It should be noted the Morocco’s policies in the economic field. To that is
beginning of the year instead of waiting growth will experience a slowdown essential partners will post impor- added the strengthening of the national
until June as in the past. The novelty in 2022 and 2023, according to the tant rates, like 3.5% for example in sovereignty in terms of products and
lies in the introduction of the multi-year World Bank who expects a growth France after 6.7% in 2021, and 5.8% strategic services. The same applies to
component. rate of 4.1% in 2022, impacted by in Spain after 4.9%. According to the national production which must be
the persistence of the pandemic, re- forecasts, the prices of most energy strengthened at the local and internatio-
• Making the Mohammed VI Fund duced financial support, and disrup- products will remain high during this nal level, while protecting it from unfair
for Investment operational tion of the supply chain. The IMF year, with the persistence of supply- competition. o
At the national level, increasing the expects growth of 4.4% in 2022 and side constraints. o Mohamed CHAOUI
HE Water stress: How Casablanca manages scarcity

n The Lydec utility in vigilance the low filling rate of dams, including Ouled Saleh, Mediouna, El Mejjatia valent to the annual consumption of
mode to cope with a worrying the Al Massira dam (6.5%, according Ouled Taleb, Lahraouiyine ...). The 1.2 million inhabitants. o
to the latest figures from the General first phase of this important project
Aziza EL AFFAS
situation Directorate of Water). aims to reduce the dependence of
In order to avoid compromising the the drinking water supply of Grea-
I tion is critical across several supply of drinking water to the sou- ter Casablanca on the Oum Er-Rbia 7,000 km of distribution networks
Drinking water in figures
T is a fact that the water situa-
thern area served by this watershed watershed, which is very heavily soli-
watersheds in the Kingdom.
ned in 2020 a partnership agreement which has become structural.
Meeting the needs of a large city like (Marrakech and its region), Lydec sig- cited and has a recurring water deficit, 36 water storage tanks with a total
capacity of 667,130 m3, i.e. an
Casablanca has become a major chal- for the financing and implementation The works consist in transferring drin- autonomy of more than 26 hours
lenge. Indeed, the city consumes on of the project to strengthen the sup- king water from the existing ONEE
average the equivalent of 500,000 ply of drinking water to the Greater facilities to the water storage tanks 19 pumping stations and 24 water
cubic meters to 730,000 m3 per day. Casablanca via the Bouregreg water managed by Lydec and supplying the boosters
In 2021, the Lydec utility distributed supply systems, replacing part of the Southern area of Casablanca. They Daily consumption of between
more than 219 million m3 of drinking water from the Oum Er-Rbia area. are currently being carried out in two 500,000 and 730,000 m3.
water. This water comes from two Within the framework of this project, phases: one entrusted to ONEE and 219 million m3 of water distribu-
main sources, namely the Bouregreg financed entirely by the Government, another carried out by Lydec. «The ted in 2021
Wadi (Sidi Mohammed ben Abdellah Lydec has undertaken to build a pum- works, whose cost amounts to 133 74 million m3 of water saved
dam (107 million m3) and Oued Oum ping station with a capacity of 1,000 million MAD, are being finalized, and compared to 1997
Er-Rbia (109 million m3). A minority liters/second and a discharge pipe the commissioning is expected in the 98,900 bacteriological and physi-
contribution comes from 2 additional between the «Mediouna 140» and coming days», said the representative cochemical analyses performed in
sources (Tit Mellil and Sidi Moussa «Merchich 240» sites. of the utility in charge of water/elec- 2021;
Ben Ali). But the consumption peak is The goal is to secure the supply of tricity, sanitation, and street lighting. Overall compliance rate of drin-
recorded between the months of April drinking water to the Southern part In addition, leak detection operations king water: 100%.
and October. of the area under delegated manage- in the network have made it possible
The water situation in the Oum Er- ment which is experiencing a very to save more than 10 million m3 of 6.5 billion MAD invested since
Rbia watershed is very critical given significant urban growth (Bouskoura, drinking water in 2021, i.e. the equi- 1997. o
Friday 1st April 2022