Morocco's ministers endorsed broad policy guidelines for a 2027 finance bill, putting the new coalition's jobs and public-service commitments against a backdrop of slower growth.
The Council of Ministers approved the policy directions on Oct. 17, a day after King Mohammed VI appointed a cabinet led by Head of Government Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri. The decision covered only the general orientations of the draft 2027 finance bill.
Recent economic data provide context for the pledges. The High Commission for Planning (HCP) reported that output grew 4% in the second quarter of 2026, compared with 5.8% in the same period of 2025. The HCP's household confidence index fell to 59.2 points in the third quarter from 60.1 in the second, but remained above its year-earlier reading of 53.6. A separate HCP survey put labor-force participation among people ages 15 to 24 at 22.9% in the second quarter.
El Mansouri's Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) won 97 of the 395 House of Representatives seats in preliminary results from the Sept. 23 election. PAM formed a governing coalition with the Istiqlal Party, the Socialist Union of Popular Forces and the Party of Progress and Socialism. Morocco's Ministry of Interior reported turnout of 38.08% among registered voters, down from 50.86% in 2021. El Mansouri is the first woman appointed to lead the government.
Speaking to Parliament on Oct. 19, El Mansouri named jobs, purchasing power, schools and hospitals among the coalition's priorities. She said past reforms had produced uneven gains across social groups and regions. The government program also sets longer-term growth and fiscal targets, including an average annual growth goal of 5% for 2027–2031, according to PAM.
The cabinet combines new leadership with continuity in senior posts. Abdelouafi Laftit remains interior minister, and Nasser Bourita remains foreign minister. Fouzi Lekjaa, who served in the outgoing government as minister delegate in charge of the budget, was named minister of economy and finance and public performance. Political scientist Hassan Aourid argued in an Al Jazeera opinion column that the appointments point to continuity despite the change at the top.
The Finance Ministry's Oct. 17 announcement set out only broad orientations; the bill's detailed spending and financing plans were not specified.
