In response to a question on “the impact of the increase in the price of gas in Morocco” at the House of Representatives, Lekjaa pointed out that the government devotes more than MAD 15 billion a year to subsidizing butane gas consumption, “an assistance intended in principle for the most disadvantaged groups who need it most”.

The Minister also noted that “the most vulnerable categories (the poorest 20% of the population), benefit from only 14% of this subsidy, while the wealthiest categories (the richest 20%) benefit from 27%, making it twice as much”.

In this context, he stated that “the real problem with butane gas subsidy, as with other subsidized products, is the lack of beneficiary targeting”, adding that “the government and various components of parliament are called upon to set the most effective mechanisms so as to ensure that this assistance reaches the needy categories, for whom it was implemented”.

Lekjaa noted that direct assistance, through targeted cash transfers to vulnerable categories, is “the most suitable solution, as these categories deserve this aid, just as they should benefit from the budget margins that the government can generate by optimizing this system”.