Moroccan state paid $ 945 million in subsidies

The Moroccan state has paid a total of 10.4 billion DH ($ 945 million) in subsidies to oil and basic products, which represents 60% of the state annual investment budget and more than the budget deficit.

Head of the compensation board, Najib Benamour, told the 2nd TV channel "2M" between 4.3 to 4.4 billion DH (between $ 390 Mln and $ 400 mln )went to subsidizing energy products while the rest was used to subsidize wheat, food products and sugar.

He also hoped that oil prices on international markets would decrease following the announcement by Venezuelan oil minister, who is also OPEC chairman, that the organization will increase its production to stabilize prices between $ 22 and $ 25.

On September 1st, the government announced increases in fuel prices in Morocco.

The official statement announcing the fuel price increases explained that the government has delayed several times the decision and the state had to sustain between August 1999 and August 2000 a burden of 2.57 billion DH ($ 233 million) to avoid reflecting the international oil prices on consumers.