Morocco Repays $936 Million to IMF Ahead of Schedule, Boosting Economic Confidence

Morocco has decided to repay in advance part of the three billion dollars drawn in April last year on the Precautionary and Liquidity Line (PLL), the IMF announced. The amount repaid is 651 million Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), the equivalent of nearly $936 million or 8.4 billion dirhams. The operation will be effective on January 8, 2021, the Ministry of Finance and Bank Al Maghrib said in a statement.

On April 7, 2020, as part of its early response to the health crisis, Morocco made a drawdown on the Precautionary and Liquidity Line for an amount equivalent to about $3 billion, repayable over 5 years, with a 3-year grace period. Thus, after a major special mobilization effort by the Treasury, mainly with two issues on the international financial market, the outstanding foreign exchange reserves held by Morocco "have reached a comfortable level that allows it to cover more than seven months of its goods and services imports, a situation that should be maintained in the medium term."

This early repayment will reduce the Kingdom’s future financial commitments, mainly by reducing the cost, thanks in particular to the very favorable conditions of the latest international Treasury issue. Moreover, the operation was unanimously applauded by the members of the IMF Executive Board at its meeting on December 18 on the occasion of the review of the Article IV consultation report for Morocco, the monetary authorities of the Kingdom stressed.