A total of 138,491 jobs have been created in the public sector under the 2017, 2018 and 2019 finance bills, compared to 116,977 for the 2012-2016 period and 71,442 in 2007-2011, said Monday in Rabat head of government, Saâd Dine El Otmani. Answering a question on «government policy to reduce the unemployment rate», presented by the Istiqlalian unity and egalitarianism group at the House of Representatives, during the monthly session on general policy, El Otmani recalled that the government has implemented a series of measures to reduce the unemployment rate, by continuing to support employment programs and intensifying the government's efforts in the field of public employment. The employment programs have contributed to the achievement of important results in reducing the unemployment rate, by monitoring 201,241 jobseekers through the «integration» program and by reaching 102,581 self-employed entrepreneurs at the end of April 2019, compared to 32,400 in 2016, i.e. 103 pc of the objectives set for the year 2021. The government's efforts also focus on the strengthening of employability for 45,737 jobseekers through the «Taehil» program, monitoring 5,210 project leaders and creating more than 2,000 small businesses or income-generating activities through the «Support for self-employment» program. El Otmani also noted the improvement of the «Tahfiz» program, through the increase in the number of employees whose tax and social obligations are covered by the State to 10 employees instead of 5 (in the previous system) for the benefit of newly created companies, associations and cooperatives, in addition to the exemption from income tax for gross occasional remuneration and allowances paid by companies to student researchers preparing a doctoral thesis for a period of 24 months. El Otmani added that these measures, combined with others relating to sectoral policies aimed at job creation and support for youth employment, have made a significant contribution to reducing the unemployment rate.
