Morocco: Distributors uneasy about liberalisation costs

Local distributors, organised into the Groupement des Pétroliers du Maroc (GPM), are lobbying for the end to subsidies, announced by the government last January and scheduled for 1 January 2015, to be rolled out over three years instead. The government has surprised many observers by pushing for a full end to subsidies by the Caisse de Compensation, rather than maintaining some support for politically sensitive diesel prices. Subsidies have proved a heavy burden for the state budget; it is calculated that, following reforms, subsidies in 2014 would be around MD28bn ($3.1bn), compared to MD37.5bn if the old system had remained.