Official figures indicated that the total public debt in Morocco will reach about 95.6 percent of the gross domestic product during the current year 2021, instead of 94.6 percent last year.

According to the Russian agency Sputnik, public debt in Morocco will rise to a record level of more than 95 percent, as it exceeds the red line approved by the European Union by 60 percent. Note that many countries have public debt at the domestic and foreign levels exceeding 60 percent, as is the case for the United States and Italy, or exceeding the permissible threshold, as is the case for Japan and France.

The Corona pandemic negatively affected Morocco, due to the scarcity of revenues, especially from hard currency, which made the debt ratio rise. On this basis, there are great prospects for the year 2021 to witness a significant increase in public debt despite expectations of improved tax revenues on the one hand and investment returns on the other hand, due to the size of the budget allocated for investments in the Finance Law 2021, which was identified at about 330 billion dirhams, in addition to important social programs, such as health coverage, which will include 22 million beneficiaries.

The Moroccan government will be obligated to follow an austerity policy by rationalizing expenditures and searching for new mechanisms to finance projects, such as partnership between the private and public sectors, in addition to the necessity to encourage the local product and be satisfied with the import of energy materials and medicines that are not manufactured in Morocco.

Source (London-based Arab Newspaper, Edited)