Morocco Withdraws $496 Million from the IMF Under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has allowed Morocco to withdraw an additional $496 million under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF), bringing the total disbursed through this mechanism to $1.24 billion.
This follows the IMF Executive Board’s completion of the third review of the facility last Monday. The RSF, introduced in September 2023, aims to provide long-term, affordable financing to help countries address persistent challenges, including climate change.
The IMF highlighted that Morocco’s economy has demonstrated resilience in 2024 despite ongoing drought conditions. Strong domestic demand has helped offset a decline in agricultural output, with growth expected to slow slightly to 3.2% this year.
Meanwhile, the current account deficit has widened slightly, and the unemployment rate has remained high at around 13%, mainly due to job losses in the agricultural sector. GDP growth is projected to accelerate to approximately 3.7% in the coming years, supported by new infrastructure projects and ongoing structural reforms.
On the monetary policy front, inflation slowed in 2024, prompting Bank Al-Maghrib (Morocco’s central bank) to cut interest rates three times in June and December 2024, as well as in March this year.
Economic Growth Forecasts for 2025
Meanwhile, the Moroccan central bank has forecasted GDP growth of 3.9% for 2025, as announced by Governor Abdellatif Jouahri during a press conference in Rabat on Tuesday.
He further stated that economic growth is expected to reach 4.2% in 2026, driven by an improvement in agricultural production—still dependent on weather conditions—and a 4.2% growth in non-agricultural sectors.
Regarding public finances, Jouahri projected that the budget deficit would decline to 3.9% of GDP in 2025 and further to 3.6% in 2026.
These estimates align with Morocco’s draft budget forecast of 4.6% economic growth next year, with inflation at around 2%. Meanwhile, the High Commission for Planning had previously projected growth of 3.8% in January.
