Rabat – Morocco’s Compensation Fund announced on Monday that the cost of the butane gas and sugar subsidies declined to MAD 11.94 ($1.33 billion) last year.

The number shows a slight decrease from a year earlier, when the compensation fund reported that expenditures in butane gas and sugar amounted to MAD 12.91 billion ($1.45 billion).

The compensation fund office said the cost of the butane gas subsidy was estimated at MAD 8.694 billion ($974 million) in 2020, down from MAD 9.51 billion in 2019. The number represented a decrease of 9%.

The office attributed the decline to the decrease in butane gas prices and the unit subsidy of 13% during this period.

Sugar compensation charges also experienced a decrease estimated at 5% compared to 2019. The decrease covers both quantity and value of the sugar compensation charge.

Sugar subsidy cost amounted to MAD 3.248 billion ($363 million) at the end of December 2020, against MAD 3.407 billion ( $381 million) a year earlier.

The compensation fund also emphasized that the payment of outstanding subsidy fees for butane gas and sugar products amounted to more than MAD 11.05 billion ($1.23 billion), including MAD 8.3 billion ($930 million) for butane gas and MAD 2.75 billion ($308 million) for sugar.

Meanwhile, the compensation fund office reported that outstanding subsidy files for butage gas and sugar stood at MAD 3.484 billion ($390 million), including MAD 2.1 billion ($235 million) for butane gas and MAD 1.38 billion ($154 million) for sugar.

Morocco is a major gas importer. The country’s consumption of butane gas exceeds 7,000 tonnes per day.

Data from Energy Pedia indicate that Morocco depends on imports for 91% of its energy.

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