Morocco will pump 120 billion Moroccan dirhams ($13 billion) into the domestic economy under a government stimulus package intended to offset the negative effects of the lockdown following the spread of Coronavirus, local newspapers reported on Wednesday. 

The package, announced recently by King Mohammed VI, includes an allocation of 75 billion dirhams ($8 billion) for construction companies and other firms most affected by the lockdown imposed by the North African Arab country to face the pandemic, they said, quoting Morocco's Economy and Finance Minister Mohammed Benchaaboun. 

"These funds will be allocated in the form of soft loans to those companies. The package also includes 5 billion dirhams ($537 million) to cover risks by companies which are unable to pay their debt," Benchaaboun said, quoted by Hespress and other dailies. 

The remaining 45 billion dirhams ($5 billion) will be earmarked to the Strategic Investment Fund, which will finance joint public-private sector projects. The government will contribute 15 billion dirhams to that fund while the rest will be mobilised by local and international financial institutions, he added. 

(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon and Bhaskar Raj)

(anoop.menon@refinitiv.com)

#Morocco #Construction #Economy #Coronavirus

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