Public investments: New approach to impact assessment
Fouzi Lekjaâ is adamant: the Government attaches major importance to the performance of public investment and to guaranteeing its real impact on economic growth, the job creation and the Achieving territorial equity.
According to Fouzi Lekjaâ , sectoral studies show that public investment has contributed significantly to strengthening basic infrastructure such as roads, ports, airports, water and electricity networks (Photo by Al Nasser)
This commitment stems from the royal directive which emphasizes the need to shift from a quantitative to a qualitative approach in the management of public investment. This, at least, is what emerges from the response of the Minister of Budget to a question from Driss Sentissi, head of the parliamentary group of the Popular Movement.
According to the minister, sectoral studies show that public investment has contributed significantly to strengthening the basic infrastructure such as roads, ports, airports, water and electricity networks. This has helped to improve the attractiveness of the national territory for private investment and to create direct and indirect jobs, particularly in the industrial, energy, tourism, and agricultural sectors. It should be noted that the territorial dimension was also integrated into the investment assessment through monitoring their spatial distribution. The aim is to ensure greater equity between the least favored regions.
Furthermore, several institutional and technical mechanisms have been established to assess the impact of public investments within the framework of the implementation of the Investment Charter. In this regard, the Ministry of Finance is working on developing a new approach to evaluating the impact of public investment, based on the analysis of economic and social profitability. of each project before its programming. This also involves adopting performance monitoring indicators linked to growth, employment, environmental impact, and territorial equity. This approach also includes integrating performance criteria into budget allocation, through the activation of contractual agreements with state institutions and state-owned enterprises, linking funding to the achievement of results, and strengthening ex-post evaluation. through periodic reports on the implementation of major projects and their impact on territorial development. These measures reflect ongoing efforts to shift from a logic of public spending to one of productive investment.
Mohamed CHAOUI
