Morocco to Allow Foreign Currency Accounts for Citizens in 2024

A measure with a dual objective, this decision of the Ministry of Finance aims to relax the restrictive regulations on the issue of foreign exchange, to eliminate certain motivations behind the circumvention of Moroccan regulations and to allow Moroccans in violation to regularize their situation in order to be within the law.

The decision therefore intends to allow Moroccans to no longer circumvent the law but to face their responsibilities towards the tax authorities.

For Minister Mohamed Benchaâboun, this relaxation is envisaged in order to grant citizens the possibility of having foreign currency accounts fed "at a minimum" by tourist allowances, among other things, in certain cases. According to the same source, the amount in terms of allowance will be indexed to income with, of course, a ceiling.

According to this same source, this ceiling allows the State to maintain control over exchange controls, as it is the only way to ensure that Morocco will not have foreign exchange reserve problems and therefore to pay for its imports.

Benchaâboun presented this decision as a measure of trust which should, among other things, encourage Moroccans to repatriate liquid assets held abroad.

More cautiously, he believes that once the basic rules change, behaviors will change. According to him, Moroccans who hold assets abroad will be able to declare them in complete safety, thus allowing the State to collect revenue.

While explaining the measure, the Minister recalls that in the past, Moroccans who declared their assets could not dispose of the proceeds of these assets in the country. They were forced to create an account in their host country to transfer said proceeds.