Indeed, public aid reduced the incidence of poverty by 9 points, vulnerability by 8 points and inequalities by 6 points, the HCP said in a note published on Wednesday under the title "the evolution of the lifestyle of households and the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on social inequalities".

The absolute poverty rate fell from 11.7% before the transfer of public aid to 2.5% after its transfer at the national level, respectively from 7.1% to 1.4% in urban areas and from 19.8% to 4.5% in rural areas, said the HCP, adding that the Gini index, a synthetic measure of social inequalities, rose from 44.4% without public transfers to 38.4% after receipt of public aid.

Social inequalities and monetary poverty in Morocco were apprehended based on data of the national survey on sources of income carried out by the HCP, from December 1, 2019 to the end of March 2020, with a sample of 3,290 households. The results obtained are presented per household and per person.

Under the effect of the health crisis and without public aid, poverty would have been 7 times higher and vulnerability would have multiplied by 2, deepening inequalities, noted the HCP.

In the context of the health crisis, the incidence of poverty rose to 11.7% at the time of the lockdown, multiplying by 5 in rural areas to 19.8%, and 14 times in urban areas to stand at 7.1%.

The vulnerability rate has more than doubled, from 7.3% before the lockdown to 16.7% during the lockdown. By area of ​​residence, these proportions are respectively 14.6% and 20.2% in urban and rural areas.

Under these conditions, social inequalities deteriorated and exceeded the socially intolerable threshold (42%). The Gini index reached 44.4%, against 38.5% before the health crisis.