Moroccan Businesses Face Bankruptcy Surge as Courts Resume Full Operations

Between January and June, 2,554 court-ordered liquidations were pronounced against 4,111 over the same period last year. After a 14% increase in bankruptcies in January, the trend reversed over the following five months with a slowdown in the pace during the months of April, May and June. Less than 200 bankruptcy filings were recorded in the second quarter.

The slowdown in the operations of the commercial courts to fight the spread of the Coronavirus largely explains the drop in defaults (-38% year-on-year). At the sectoral level, wholesale trade (727 companies), construction (376) and business services (281) accounted for 54% of the defaults in the first half. In the sectors heavily affected by the crisis, nearly 130 liquidations were recorded in hotels and restaurants and 149 in real estate activities. The worst is to be feared with the return of administrative bodies to full activity.