The Moroccan government recently decided to increase the capital of the national carrier Royal Air Maroc (RAM), Treasury Minister Fathallah Oualalou told Al-Hayat . The government also decided to repay at once some of its outstanding debts to the company.
RAM encountered financial difficulties following the US terror attacks, which disrupted the aviation industry worldwide. The carrier’s insurance costs have almost quadrupled to 120 million Moroccan dirhams ($10.3 million) since September 11, and the airline has experienced a 22 percent drop in passenger traffic as well as a near freeze in winter bookings, according to an official statement quoted by Al-Jarida Al-Maghribia .
Addressing the parliamentary financial committee, the minister stated that the government couldn’t abandon a public company that incurred losses due to such devastating international events. The government will support RAM even through serious cuts into the 2002 national budget, estimated at $15 billion, the minister added.
Sources in the Transportation Ministry revealed that the government intends to repay $80 million worth of debts to the air-carrier, accumulated mainly in the form of unpaid ticket fairs by government officials. The governmental package, which aiming to make up for RAM Dh 1.1 billion ($100 million) losses, also includes raising flight tariffs and delaying by a year the delivery of two ordered Boeing 737 till 2003 and freezing recruitment. — (menareport.com)
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
