Morocco Considers Return to International Financial Markets, Minister Says

Is the Moroccan Treasury returning to the international financial market? "We constantly monitor international markets... We will decide in due course depending on market conditions," Nadia Fettah said in a statement to the media on the sidelines of the joint annual meetings of Arab financial institutions, which are being held this Wednesday, May 22 in Cairo. Currently, the public finance situation is experiencing a gradual improvement. On the inflation side, the minister assures that it should stabilize this year at 2.2%, despite the reduction in butane gas subsidies. According to her explanations, Morocco has activated a complete set of measures, including the direct social assistance program for vulnerable households, the generalization of medical coverage, and the social agreement of April 29, 2024 recording a revaluation of salaries in the public and private sectors, to control inflation before this decision.

In March 2023, Morocco had issued a bond loan for a total amount of $2.5 billion, divided into two tranches of $1.25 billion each. "Morocco is the best-rated country in Africa with outstanding Eurobonds. The quality of its credit has improved, the spread on public debt in dollars having been reduced by more than half since it reached its highest level in nearly 20 years in July 2022," notes the Bloomberg agency. It will add: "This North African country, where subsidies have increased due to the economic fallout from the war in Ukraine, is working to redirect a large part of its support towards the most vulnerable households, in line with the recommendations of the International Monetary Fund to strengthen its resilience to external shocks."