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The African Development Bank (AfDB) approved on Wednesday in Abidjan a € 264 million financing to Morocco as part of its response assistance program to fight the novel coronavirus (Parc-19).
«With rapid deployment of resources, PARC-19 contributes to bolster the Kingdom's response efforts to the health, economic and social crisis triggered by the Covid-19 epidemic», the AfDB said in a release.
«Faced with this unprecedented situation, we are doing everything in our power to help Morocco curb the spread of the virus and mitigate its economic and social reperscussions», said Mohamed El Azizi, AfDB Director General for North Africa, adding that with PARC-19, «we do it through a multidimensional and targeted approach».
In order to protect the population, the primary objective of the program is to help stop the spread of the virus and further improve the effectiveness of the authorities' health response. Thus, it will contribute to the increase in the number of hospitals authorized to carry out virological tests, the source pointed out.
«The second objective of this operation is intended to help preserve the purchasing power of Moroccans. In this perspective, the program will support public financial support measures, which benefit employees in the formal and informal sectors during the lockdown period. It will also reinforce government's efforts to provide support to 4.3 million households in the informal sector as well as 800,000 employees affiliated to the National Social Security Fund (CNSS)», the statement said.
In order to preserve jobs and promote economic recovery, PARC-19 will facilitate access to financing for self-employed entrepreneurs and strengthen very small, small and medium-sized enterprises. The expected result is to preserve 75% of jobs affected by the crisis.
