Employer contribution relief worth €70 billion to be reviewed
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on BFMTV and Maroc Diplomatique
Minister for Public Accounts David Amiel estimates the extra cost to the state of raising the minimum wage (Smic) and low civil-service salaries at slightly more than €1 billion, according to BFMTV. He warned on Sunday that this spending will require additional budgetary efforts during the examination of the 2027 budget.
The 2027 budget does not provide for raising employer contribution relief to offset the increase in the Smic, although the government is considering reviewing it. These general relief measures represent more than €70 billion in public employment aid each year, and a reform of these schemes must be launched in 2027, according to the government. Employer organisations fear having to fund both wage rises, including those for industry-wide minimum wages that have fallen below the Smic, and a challenge to these reliefs.
The Senate must examine the 2027 budget from 20 November, after the deputies rejected it. Amir Reza-Tofighi, president of the employers' organisation Les Entrepreneurs, believes companies no longer have any room to absorb cost increases.
Labour Minister Jean-Pierre Farandou has also promised to contain the growth of labour costs from 2027 if pay rises. The government must therefore both avoid a social crisis and reassure companies that are being asked to raise wages.
