Nadia Fettah Alaoui, Minister of Economy and Finance, stated yesterday, Tuesday, that the ministry “places great importance on the management and prevention of state disputes,” noting that “the Kingdom’s Legal Agency receives nearly 20,000 new cases annually concerning various disputes involving the state and its affiliated entities, in addition to 200,000 ongoing files.”
Fettah Alaoui, while responding to questions from the advisors in the lower house of Parliament, added that the agency “receives approximately 7,000 rulings each year, which are analyzed to extract relevant statistical data and financial indicators.” She emphasized that “the financial value of the difference saved for the state treasury, through comparing the amounts claimed with those ruled upon during the year 2024, amounts to nearly 16 billion and 200 million dirhams.”
During her participation in the weekly session of oral questions, she continued: “The total difference over the last five years has reached around 25 billion and 400 million dirhams, not to mention the efforts made before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, where significant amounts were spared from the Kingdom’s treasury.” She highlighted that “despite these positive results, official reports indicate the continued existence of several imbalances that hinder effective and proactive dispute management.”
In this context, the minister pointed out “the multiplicity of stakeholders, weak coordination among various partners, and limited efforts in dispute prevention, alongside support for public administrations and improving legal forecasting, as well as the absence of mechanisms for managing procedural time and evaluating performance and results.” She stressed that “the increase in the number of cases is due to several factors, primarily the expansion of public administration activities and the variety of new tasks it has taken on in various fields.”
She recalled the ministry’s initiative to organize a national symposium on “State Dispute Management and Prevention: A Gateway to Upholding Legitimacy, Ensuring Investment Stability, and Rationalizing Public Expenditures,” highlighting that “the symposium concluded with five main recommendations and proposed 43 executive measures to ensure effective dispute management and prevention.” She noted that “there is currently work, in coordination with all partners, to develop an action plan and timetable, and establish committees to monitor the implementation of the symposium’s recommendations, according to precise measurement indicators.”
Regarding the fate of public institutions and enterprises reform, which was inquired about by the National Rally of Independents and Authenticity and Modernity teams, the speaker stated that “the reform is considered one of the major projects receiving special attention from the government, and in accordance with the provisions of framework law 50.21 concerning the reform of these entities, which has entered into effect and serves as a clear roadmap for restructuring a number of institutions and this vital sector in general.”
She further explained: “In this context, a number of practical measures have been taken to activate this reform, including establishing the institutional framework for the reform and creating the National Agency for Strategic Management of Public Institutions and Enterprises,” and “preparing several legal and regulatory texts, along with proposing a program for the restructuring process, which includes the consolidation of some public institutions, merging enterprises or subsidiaries, and liquidating some institutions or enterprises that no longer have functions as well as reviewing the tasks of others.”
Regarding the National Agency for Strategic Management, the minister said: “We are talking about 57 public institutions and enterprises, with a turnover of nearly 240 billion dirhams in 2024, and profits or revenues amounting to approximately 13 billion dirhams.” She clarified that “the agency has released the first state participation strategy, which is very important and will provide a roadmap for the strategy that the state wants from these public institutions and enterprises.”
She continued: “Today, we have launched a study concerning the financial sector,” adding that “the state possesses what might be termed an ‘investment portfolio’ in several financial institutions. Therefore, it is necessary to determine whether the state should continue in a certain sector, given the public policies it needs to implement, or if there are other sectors where the state does not need to remain an actor.”
On the topic of reforming the informal sector and integrating it into the economic cycle, which was raised by the General Union of Workers and the Independence, Unity and Change team, the minister emphasized that “this sector should not be discussed modestly. It is a reality, and the government has taken several measures to find practical solutions.” She noted that “all sectoral productive policies, such as tourism, agriculture, commerce, and others, include measures to transition businesses operating in the informal sector to the formal one.”
On another note, the Minister of Economy and Finance stated that “the roadmap we are currently working on in the field of employment also provides solutions” for the active economy in the shadows, noting that “employment initiatives are often only assigned to those with degrees or diplomas, although the informal sector requires skills that are present among those who do not hold official qualifications.”
She asserted: “Tax reform is among the measures that will help combat this model,” pointing to certain programs like “self-employment,” adding that “although the time has come to reconsider the self-employment system, it has played its part, as well as there are reduced tax contributions to encourage companies wishing to transition to the formal sector. Even the reform we conducted on the National Social Security Fund and health coverage will contribute to organizing this sector.”
The Movement team also inquired about consumer protection and price regulation amid economic fluctuations, to which she responded: “We are experiencing the repercussions of years of crises,” explaining that the government “does not limit itself to marketing speeches to citizens but reminds them of the measures that have been taken. Among these is market monitoring, which is a priority for the government. In recent years, nearly 350,000 sales points have been monitored on the ground, with over 15,000 violations recorded. We are doubling efforts to inform people in markets about the necessity of respecting citizens’ rights and adhering to prices.”
Regarding price management, the minister confirmed that “support for basic commodities has cost the state about 100 billion dirhams from 2022 to 2025,” noting “the February 2023 period when inflation reached 13 percent, and we announced that we would gradually reduce prices, which has indeed been achieved, and we will continue to work to maintain this level.” She added: “We launched programs to combat the effects of drought and managed to control electricity and water prices, despite their global increase, and we decided to reduce value-added tax on some basic commodities.”
