The Moroccan lower chamber (house of representatives comprising 235 members) on Saturday night approved the 2008 state budget after about thirty amendments were made to a document tabled by the Prime Minister Abbas El Fassi, nominated last October.

The budget, which will be later on submitted for the approval of the second chamber (upper chamber comprising 270 members), is eying a 6.8% growth rate and 2.4% budget deficit on the GDP, representing US$50 billion.

The bulk of the budget is dedicated to the social sector that absorbed over 50% of it for next year’s expenditure.

The government pledged to maintain inflation at 2%, to strengthen the competitiveness of the Moroccan economy and support basic production through a compensation fund, for which it earmarked over 20 billion dirham (about US$2.5 billion) as opposed to 15 billion dirham for 2007.

The government hopes to give a boost to social housing and complete the "ville sans bidonvilles" (city without slums) programme by 2010.

Therefore, a new product will be launched in 2008, consisting of entirely tax-free housing for the most underprivileged households.

Education (with 9.7% budget increase), and regional development are the other sectors considered as priorities, sources disclosed.

Public investments for 2008 are estimated at 36 billion dirham (about US$4.5 billion), representing 39% increase compared to the 2007 budget.

YB/ib/ovh/daj/APA 03-12-2007

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