Moroccan chamber of advisors rejects privatization program extension

The Chamber of Advisors (upper house of the Moroccan bi-cameral parliament) on Tuesday turned down a draft law proposing a 1-year extension of the deadline for the completion of the privatization program until the end of 1999.

The draft was turned down by 65 members of the chamber, while 62 advisors voted for the text.

Morocco's privatization program which started in 1993 was expected to end on December 31, 1998.

Morocco intended to sell to the private sector some 113 firms by the end of 1998 but by the year's end, only 54 of them were fully or partially privatized, earning the state treasury $ 1.5 billion.

The draft text has been previously approved by the House of Representatives, lower house.

Meanwhile, privatization minister, Rachid Filali imputed the freeze of privatization in Morocco in 1998 to juridical, financial and economic problems.

Filali told Al-Alam daily that the freeze of the program was decided in October 1997, ie. six months before the coming to power of the center-left coalition government, led by Abderrahmane Youssoufi, leader of the Socialist Union of Popular Forces.

In order to face the difficulties hampering the privatization program, the government devised a reform draft that will be tabled before the parliament shortly, he said.