The Moroccan government released a statement Monday that it is to sell a portion of its stake in Maroc Telcom. The finance and economy ministry's statement comes after a government source leaked that the government was reconsidering selling a portion of its stake in the Telecom. The government previously considered selling 8 percent of its 30 percent stake. The statement reduced that figure, saying that government could be selling up to 7 percent of its 30 percent share. Rumors circulated earlier this week that the government would be selling. Based off of Maroc Telecom's closing price Friday, the stake is worth 8.86 billion dirhams, or $1.1 billion The sale comes as the Moroccan government struggles to hit its budget deficit target of 3.5 percent. Soaring food and commodity prices are putting pressures on subsidies budgets. Public pressure in the wake of the Tunisan and Egyptian uprisings rule out any sort of cut in the subsidy budget. The subsidy portion of the budget is rising to 45 billion dirhams, or 5.6 billion USD from 2010's budget of 35 billion dirhams, or $4.4 billion. The French Telecommunications company Vivendi owns a 53 percent share in Maroc Telecom. Maroc Telecom also owns a majority stake in Mauritel, Mauritania's main carrier. BM
