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Abdelilah Benkirane

The first government under the 2011 Constitution and the first led by an Islamist-oriented party. Istiqlal left in 2013 and was replaced by the RNI.

The first government under the 2011 Constitution and the first led by an Islamist-oriented party. Istiqlal left in 2013 and was replaced by the RNI.

Stated targets Abdelilah Benkirane's government targeted average growth of 5.5% a year and unemployment of 8% by the end of 2016, down from 9.1% .

Economic record Growth did not exceed 3% in 2012 because of a poor harvest, and the budget deficit widened to about 7% of GDP that year . Over the whole term average growth stayed far from 5.5%, and unemployment ended the term at 9.3% in 2016 .

Contested reforms The government introduced fuel-price indexation in 2013 and then full fuel-price liberalisation in December 2015, cutting energy subsidies from MAD 56.6 bn in 2012 to MAD 12.25 bn in 2015 . In 2016 it passed a pension reform gradually raising the retirement age to 63 and increasing contributions, which unions met with general strikes .

Bottom line A government bold on unpopular fiscal reforms that restored public finances, but missed its growth and jobs targets and placed the cost of reform on wage earners. Voters nonetheless renewed their trust in its party in 2016 (125 seats) .

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