Morocco Seeks to Lower 2020 Fiscal Deficit to 3.5%

Moroccan Minister of Finance Mohamed Benchaaboun speaks during a news conference in Rabat, Morocco October 22, 2019. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal
Moroccan Minister of Finance Mohamed Benchaaboun speaks during a news conference in Rabat, Morocco October 22, 2019. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal
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Morocco Seeks to Lower 2020 Fiscal Deficit to 3.5%

Moroccan Minister of Finance Mohamed Benchaaboun speaks during a news conference in Rabat, Morocco October 22, 2019. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal
Moroccan Minister of Finance Mohamed Benchaaboun speaks during a news conference in Rabat, Morocco October 22, 2019. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal

Morocco is targeting to lower its fiscal deficit of 3.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020 through a bunch of financial and taxation procedures.

Moroccan Minister of Finance Mohamed Benchaaboun said that these measures – included in budget 2020 – will control government spending. He added that his government will count on privatization that will generate MAD3 billion (USD300 million) besides taxation procedures.

Benchaaboun presented on Monday the Appropriation Bill 2020 during a plenary session of the parliament, pointing out that the budget anticipates spending more than MAD488.6 billion (USD51.4 billion) with an increase of 10.2 percent.

It would bring additional incomes worth MAD446.7 billion (USD47 billion), which is a 7 percent increase.

The new budget includes new measures that push investment especially reducing the marginal price of the tax on companies from 31 percent to 28 percent and declining the current price of the minimum rate of the tax from 0.75 percent to 0.50 percent.

This coincides with continuous reform of the investment climate and working on extracting the new charter of investment as well as reforming regional centers for investment.

The minister added that the government allocates great importance to SMEs and emerging projects.

Regarding taxation, the suggested budget encompasses transitional procedures for the sake of enabling firms and individuals to settle their taxation status. Benchaaboun said that the budget is a platform to establish a new stage based on fostering trust and promoting initiatives.



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.