Remittances, tourism receipts to hit record in 2026- Morocco’s central bank says

Two key sources of Morocco’s inflow of hard currency, remittances from Moroccans abroad and tourism receipts are heading towards another record in 2026 at 123 billion dirhams ($12.8 bln) and 125 billion dirhams ($13 bln) respectively, the central bank said.

This improvement would help offset the deepening trade deficit due to higher imports of equipment to support the investment push in infrastructure as the country prepares to host the African Cup of Nations later this year and the 2030 World Cup.

Foreign direct investments receipts are expected to continue to improve, approaching the equivalent of 3% of GDP in 2025 and 3.3% in 2026, after 2.8% in 2024.

The trade momentum observed in 2024 is expected to continue in the medium term. Exports are expected to be driven mainly by sales of phosphate and derivatives, which are projected to increase by 15.2% this year and 8.6% in 2026 to 108.6 billion dirhams, and by those of the automotive sector, which are expected to reach 195 billion dirhams in 2026.

At the same time, imports are expected to be driven in particular by the continued strong growth in the acquisition of capital goods as well as by the increase in purchases of consumer goods, while the energy bill is expected to continue to fall to €104.6 billion in 2026.

In view of these developments, the current account deficit is expected to widen to 2.9% of GDP in 2025 before easing to 2% in 2026.

Taking into account the planned external financing from the Treasury, official reserve assets would increase to 391.8 billion dirhams at the end of 2025 and then to 408 billion at the end of 2026, representing the equivalent of 5 months and 5 days of imports of goods and services and 5 months and 11 days respectively.