This measure, which concerns individuals whose income has decreased due to the state of health emergency, was taken during the seventh working meeting of the Economic Monitoring Committee (CVE) which was held on Friday via videoconference, the ministry said in a statement.

It is valid for people with monthly credit terms of up to 3,000 dirhams for housing loans and 1,500 dirhams for consumer loans, including those contracted with finance companies, added the same source, noting that about 400,000 people should benefit from the postponement of credit maturities.

For companies and in order to prepare the conditions for an accelerated resumption of their activities, the CVE has decided to set up a new mechanism which is flexible in its implementation and covers all segments of the companies making up the national fabric.

In this context, "Damane Oxygène" will be reviewed and made more flexible, with an improvement in the conditions of access to financing for the re-launch, in favor of Very Small Enterprises (VSEs), Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and Intermediate Enterprises. It will be extended until December 31, 2020 and no security will be required from now on.

Thus, companies with a turnover of more than 500 million dirhams will be integrated into an appropriate mechanism for financing the recovery, said the ministry, noting that the mechanisms and operational modalities of this body will be finalized shortly by a committee made up of the Ministry of the Economy, Finance and Administration Reform, Bank Al Maghrib (central bank), the employers' association (CGEM) and the Professional Grouping of Banks of Morocco (GPBM).

The CVE also discussed at this meeting the situation of public establishments and enterprises (EEPs). In this regard, it was agreed to create a specific guarantee fund allowing these EEPs which are impacted by COVID-19 to raise new financial resources necessary to reinforce their permanent funding and, therefore, to ensure the sustainable development of their activities.

According to the same source, the State thus shows a strong commitment to economic recovery, and supports banks for the granting of massive funding to all segments of private and public businesses, with a view to preserving employment, reducing inter-company loans, and restoring confidence.

Before the end of the meeting, the members of the CVE noted the successful launch of the process of drawing up sectoral recovery plans by the departments concerned and the CGEM, in accordance with the approach adopted during the latest CVE.

These plans will be examined at the next CVE meetings, before being consolidated within the framework of a global recovery plan.