anger is crystallizing on the “exorbitant” margins of fuel distributors while the government refuses to subsidize prices at the pump.
Le Monde with AFP
The pump fuel prices have reached new records on Thursday, June 16, in Morocco, arousing the anger of unions and calls to government to protect purchasing power. Unleaded petrol now borders on 18 dirhams (1.70 euros) per liter and diesel nearly 16 dirhams, levels never equaled, in a context of inflation and weak growth.
In a letter broadcast on Wednesday, the Democratic Labor Confederation (CDT), one of the main unions, urged the head of government Aziz Akhannouch to “intervene urgently to protect the purchasing power of the working class and the general population, and realize the extent of the sufferings they undergo “. Three other unions, of less representativeness, called for a national strike on Monday in the public service, local communities and transport to protest against the high cost of life.
Morocco has been facing continuous price increases for several months, in particular hydrocarbons, a consequence in particular of the war in Ukraine.
Many voices rise again, including on social networks, to claim the cap of “exorbitant” margins of fuel distributors. The Prime Minister himself, an oil tycoon, is the target of criticisms because of his double cap of political leader and the main shareholder of Afriquia, leader on the local hydrocarbon market with Total and Shell.
Petroleum magnate
The government has so far refused to subsidize fuels as before 2015. But it has doubled the budget devoted to Butane gas grants, flour and sugar up to 32 billion dirhams (2.8 billion euros). He also spent around 1.4 billion dirhams since April to help road carriers (180,000 vehicles) following a strike movement.
“The government is studying the possible margins to revise the amount of these aid upwards,” government spokesman Mustapha Baitas said on Thursday after the Council of Ministers weekly.
But price increases are “linked to an international context (…) and uncertainty on the levels they could reach increases every day,” added Mr. Baitas.
In opposition, the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP), requires a drop in indirect taxes and an increase in corporate tax.