Moroccan PM Calls for Diversifying Resources

Moroccan Prime Minister Saadeddine Othmani gives a speech in Rabat, March 18, 2017. REUTERS/Stringer
Moroccan Prime Minister Saadeddine Othmani gives a speech in Rabat, March 18, 2017. REUTERS/Stringer
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Moroccan PM Calls for Diversifying Resources

Moroccan Prime Minister Saadeddine Othmani gives a speech in Rabat, March 18, 2017. REUTERS/Stringer
Moroccan Prime Minister Saadeddine Othmani gives a speech in Rabat, March 18, 2017. REUTERS/Stringer

Moroccan Prime Minister Saadeddine Othmani has called on the government to control expenditures and resort to innovative ways to fund investments in an attempt to ease financial pressures.

In a circular to cabinet ministers, Othmani said the government will suffer from an additional financial burden of around MAD28.5 billion (USD3 billion) due to the implementation of a deal struck with syndicates, which will cost MAD5.3 billion (USD560 million) in 2020.

The minister stressed the importance of intensifying efforts on improving taxation and non-taxation resources.

Othmani emphasized the necessity of carrying out important reforms including the comprehensive reform of retirement regulations and the gradual reform of compensation, along with activating mechanisms of social support.

He placed the country’s financial and economic well being on top of the government’s priorities in drafting the state budget for 2020.

Othmani noted that reinforcing stability and economic development is full of risks, despite huge efforts exerted by Morocco in the past years.

The prime minister urged reconsidering the way investment credits are managed by giving priority to projects backed by international donors and funds, and signed in the presence of King Mohammed VI.

Othmani called for enhancing public investments by adopting a new approach which will be activated gradually starting next year, and which aims at implementing more socially and economically lucrative projects, and to enhance implementation mechanisms, in addition to relying on innovative funding procedures by activating the new legal framework for public-private sector partnerships.



China Expands Visa-free Entry to More Countries in Bid to Boost Economy

Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
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China Expands Visa-free Entry to More Countries in Bid to Boost Economy

Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

China announced Friday that it would expand visa-free entry to citizens of nine more countries as it seeks to boost tourism and business travel to help revive a sluggish economy.
Starting Nov. 30, travelers from Bulgaria, Romania, Malta, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Estonia, Latvia and Japan will be able to enter China for up to 30 days without a visa, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said.
That will bring to 38 the number of countries that have been granted visa-free access since last year. Only three countries had visa-free access previously, and theirs had been eliminated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The permitted length of stay for visa-free entry is being increased from the previous 15 days, Lin said, and people participating in exchanges will be eligible for the first time. China has been pushing people-to-people exchange between students, academics and others to try to improve its sometimes strained relations with other countries, The Associated Press reported.
China strictly restricted entry during the pandemic and ended its restrictions much later than most other countries. It restored the previous visa-free access for citizens of Brunei and Singapore in July 2023, and then expanded visa-free entry to six more countries — France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia — on Dec. 1 of last year.
The program has since been expanded in tranches. Some countries have announced visa-free entry for Chinese citizens, notably Thailand, which wants to bring back Chinese tourists.
For the three months from July through September this year, China recorded 8.2 million entries by foreigners, of which 4.9 million were visa-free, the official Xinhua News Agency said, quoting a Foreign Ministry consular official.