Morocco’s budget deficit drops to $6.4 bln in 2024

Morocco’s budget deficit shrunk to 64.4 billion dirhams ($6.4 bln) in 2024, from 74.9 billion dirhams, as a rise in government revenue continued to offset higher spending, the Moroccan treasury said.

The deficit eased to 3.9% last year from 4.4% a year earlier, as the government increases its ordinary revenue and tax receipts, it said.

In total, government revenue rose to 367 billion dirhams in 2024, up from 338.3 billion a year earlier, it said.

During the tax amnesty period that ended on December 31st, 2024, the treasure received over 6 billion dirhams in tax receipts, as 125 billion dirhams were deposited in banks, the finance ministry said in a statement.

This increased revenue helped contract the budget deficit despite an increase in spending on public payroll and wage hikes which benefited 1.12 million employees.

The government also unrolled a subsidies program for professional transporters worth 1.17 billion in 2024, and spent 4 billion dirhams to subsidy electricity prices.

Subsidies to ease inflation targeting animal feed and fertilizers totaled 1 billion dirhams, while subsidies to control prices of basic goods rose to 25 billion dirhams, the same year.