Morocco's pension reform efforts are at a critical juncture as Minister of Economy and Finance Nadia Fettah Alaoui informs the House of Councillors about ongoing discussions with trade unions, emphasizing the need for consensus amid complex challenges. Despite the government's commitment to dialogue, opposition groups criticize the lack of concrete solutions, fearing the burden may fall on workers, while the Moroccan Front warns against reforms that neglect social equity. DR ‹ › On Tuesday, Minister of Economy and Finance Nadia Fettah Alaoui updated the House of Councillors on the progress of social dialogue between the government and three trade unions regarding the reform of Morocco's pension system. She announced that the technical committee tasked with assessing the state of the pension schemes has officially begun its work, holding several meetings to establish a rigorous methodology and define the main pillars of the forthcoming reform. Fettah Alaoui explained that the operational phase of the reform cannot yet begin, citing the complexity of the issue and the numerous technical parameters involved. She stressed that no decisions would be taken before a thorough and comprehensive assessment of all pension schemes is completed. She added that the government, trade unions, and employers have agreed to examine each pension scheme separately, based on numerical data, reference documents, and detailed information, in the presence of the relevant officials and managers responsible for their oversight. A letter to Akhannouch The minister recalled that during a meeting of the technical committee last July, the government committed, in front of all social partners, not to present any proposal or solution without reaching consensus. This stance, she noted, was justified by the major social impact of the reform, which affects nearly five million Moroccans. She also referred to statements made by Head of Government Aziz Akhannouch in September, during an interview on Al Aoula and 2M, in which he affirmed that «the reform of the pension funds can only succeed through agreement with social partners and within the framework of serious and responsible dialogue». This approach, however, has failed to convince opposition groups in the House of Councillors. They have strongly criticized what they describe as the executive's «inability» to put forward concrete and effective solutions to break the deadlock facing the pension system. According to them, the government is seeking to shift the bulk of the reform's cost onto Moroccan workers. For its part, the Moroccan Front against the laws on strikes and pensions reiterated last week its opposition to any reform that would make the working class bear the consequences of the system's structural imbalances. In a letter addressed to Aziz Akhannouch, the Front argued that «workers are not a resource to be exploited when the State proves incapable of confronting rentier lobbies and the influence of capital». The Front also denounced what it described as decades-long attempts to restrict workers' rights through what it called «narrow» and «purely mathematical» calculations, to the detriment of a social and equitable approach to reform. The pension schemes concerned by the reform include the Moroccan Pension Fund (CMR), which covers civil servants and military personnel and was reformed in 2017 under the Benkirane government; the National Social Security Fund (CNSS) for private-sector employees; the Moroccan Interprofessional Pension Fund (CIMR), a private supplementary scheme; and the Collective Retirement Allowance Scheme (RCAR), which serves public and semi-public sector workers.
