Rising prices, fuel, payment deadlines… The nested files of the CGEM

INFLATION, supply diffi­culties, vertiginous rise in the price of freight… The impact of the war in Ukraine plunges the world and the company into a great deal of uncertainty. This is a cycle that is difficult to live with, immediately underlines Chakib Alj, president of the CGEM, invited to the meeting of the Club de L’Economiste which was an opportunity for him and for Mehdi Tazi, Vice- President General of the Confederation, to decipher and ana­lyze the impact on the economy and to draw up a progress report on the work conducted by the Confederation which is carrying out a mandate that it des­cribes as atypical, given what Moroc­co, like the rest of the world, has been experiencing for more than two years. Moreover, a small watch commit­tee monitors the situation as it arises. “We are coming out of an exceptional situation, and we find ourselves in an even more exceptional situation. We are also aware of the strong reliance on raw materials such as steel, oil, gas, wheat, and other commodities”, underlines the boss of the CGEM.

Even if the sources of supply are diver­sified, operators are coming up against pressure being exercised on resources. Industrial companies are facing diffi­culties in sourcing raw materials. The pharmaceutical industry, for example, has difficulty in obtaining supplies of inputs and plastic material for packa­ging. On the other hand, companies operating in the construction industry find themselves with contracts signed before the pandemic, but with the price increase of almost 50%, these companies are unable to cope. As a result, several construction sites are at a standstill.

Today, measures dedicated to construction companies are under dis­cussion and solutions could soon be rolled out. “Nothing is decided. We have proposed a moratorium on late penalties for construction sites as well as on the enforcement of bonds and guarantees. We are also trying to find solutions for transport”, says Alj . The financial aid granted by the Govern­ment to transport operators is of an ad hoc type. This fairly fragmented sector is characterized by a lot of informal work and requires real reform. In the meantime, the Government is working on a draft law relating to the indexation of road transport prices to fuel prices.

That said, these major upheavals at the international level and their reper­cussions have led to the revision of growth forecasts almost everywhere in the world. In the case of Morocco, the central bank forecasts growth to stand at 0.7% and inflation at 4.7%. The World Bank has also revised downward its forecasts where the Moroccan economy would experience growth at 1.1% and inflation at 4%! In other words, 2022 is a difficult year, and the uncertainty is such that ope­rators do not have visibility over the future. Under these conditions, the company could seek financial support from the Government, as was the case during the Covid crisis. “We are realis­tic, we cannot ask the Government to intervene in all subjects”, indicates the boss of bosses. On the other hand, the CGEM expects measures to be taken, especially in terms of public procure­ments and payment deadlines.

Concrete treatment of issues related to the crisis

To monitor the impact of the crisis, a committee bringing together the Mi­nistry of Foreign Affairs, Finance, the bankers association (GPBM) and the CGEM meets almost once a week. “We are dealing with topical issues that are currently linked to hyperin­flation”, Alj points out. This commit­ Friday 22 April 2022 tee, which resembles the Economic Watch Committee, known for its effi-ciency during the Covid period, deals “concretely” with issues related to the crisis. This is the case of the problem of Moroccan students in Ukraine and that of companies exporting citrus fruits to Russia.

Khadija MASMOUDI