Moroccan Tax Amnesty Injects 60 Billion Dirhams into Banking System

"The amnesty on liquidity has resulted in a notable injection of 60 billion dirhams into the Moroccan banking system. In the short term, this initiative has helped reduce the cash flow tensions of the banks, in particular by offsetting the crowding-out effect caused by the competitive interest rates on the stock market," explains Mostafa El Jai, academic and economist, quoted by L’Économiste. Thanks to this influx of funds, tensions on the interbank market were eased as early as the first week of January, leading Bank Al-Maghrib to reduce its weekly interventions, from 156 billion to 144 billion dirhams. Another effect of the tax amnesty: the 7-day advances, a key indicator of banking liquidity, decreased from 60 to 53 billion dirhams.

What about the opportunities? In the medium term, this influx of funds expands the leeway of banks to finance the real economy, thus stimulating investment and consumption, the experts assure, noting that a portion of these funds could also be directed towards the purchase of Treasury bills, strengthening public finances. Another opportunity: by encouraging their clients to invest in financial markets, banks could boost the Casablanca Stock Exchange, creating a virtuous circle between banking liquidity, public financing and economic dynamism.

Despite the effect of the tax amnesty, experts note a persistence of the structural challenges related to banking liquidity. According to Bank Al-Maghrib (BAM) forecasts, a continuous increase in the refinancing needs of banks, estimated at 164.6 billion dirhams in 2025 and 192.3 billion dirhams in 2026, is not excluded. "While the amnesty has provided temporary relief, it does not solve the underlying problems," notes a financial market professional. As proof, the average banking liquidity deficit continues to worsen, reaching -148.46 billion dirhams, an increase of 12.39%. While the 7-day advances have fallen to 53.3 billion dirhams, tensions persist in the money market. Bank Al-Maghrib plans to intensify its interventions by increasing the volume of 7-day advances to 57.4 billion dirhams in the next period, in order to stabilize the situation. "Morocco will have to diversify its sources of financing to reduce the dependence of the banking sector on the interventions of Bank Al-Maghrib," suggests the financial market professional.