Morocco faces a budget deficit of 22.9 billion dhms by May
Still reeling from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and high inflation, debt is piling up in Morocco, threatening unrest that could tip over.
At the end of May 2025, Morocco recorded a budget deficit of 22.9 billion dirhams, according to the General Treasury of the Kingdom (TGR), reports Telquel on June 12. This presents a sharp increase from the 11.2 billion posted during the same period in 2024.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Morocco has consistently run a budget deficit with public debt hovering near 69% of GDP in 2023. Unemployment has also risen, prompting widespread public discontent.
This year, the TGR attributes this to debt servicing, citing a 15.1% surge in amortizations from 2024, costing 24.4 billion dirhams. Rising 13% interest rates, costing an additional, 16.8 billion dirhams, increase this pressure. Most of this increase, however, came from domestic debt with internal amortization rising by 3.1 billion dirhams alone.
Government spending, though, stayed more or less the same. In May 2024, spending reached 43% of the annual budget, while this year it was 44%.
This shortfall already accounts for 14.1 billion dirham boost from special Treasury accounts (CST) and autonomously managed state services, underscoring the severity of Rabat’s deficit.
A study titled “State of Play of Debt Burden in Africa and the Caribbean”, recently published on May 28, revealed that six African countries account for 50% of the continent’s external debt. South Africa leads with 13.1% of Africa’s total external debt, followed by Egypt (12%), Nigeria (8.4%), Morocco (5.9%), Mozambique (5.3%), and Sudan (5.2%).
However, according to the TGR, gross ordinary revenue increased by 19.6% to 17.4 billion dirhams and ordinary expenditures by 24.2% to more than 159.7 billion dirhams, thus generating a positive ordinary balance of 11.6 billion dirhams.
According to the IMF, Morocco’s tax reforms have enabled the government to achieve higher-than-expected revenue.
Telquel/ Maghrebi
Want to chase the pulse of North Africa?
Subscribe to receive our FREE weekly PDF magazine
