Morocco is planning to set up a market for non-performing loans (NPLs) offering the possibility of buying and selling of unpaid loans beyond set deadline. Banks can sell NPLs to reduce risk, free up capital, and maintain profitability, while investors seek to profit by restructuring or recovering value.
Morocco’s Central bank, Bank Al-Maghrib, has been working on this project since 2022. Now it is speeding the legal framework and measures to bring this bourse into life with the support of the International Finance Corporation to simplify procedures and ensure that guarantees linked to the loans pass automatically to buyers.
According to central bank governor Abdellatif Jouahri, bad loans accounted for around 8.2 percent of total banking assets by the end of 2025, a high ratio compared with international norms. These loans continue to weigh on bank balance sheets and limit the ability of institutions to extend new credit.
For Mr Jouahri, the establishment of a market dedicated to NPLs will allow lenders to transfer such assets, improve liquidity, and redirect financing toward businesses and households. He also stressed the importance of protecting the borrowers and especially their personal data.
The goal of this project is to clean up bank balance sheets, improve liquidity, and reduce the systemic risks caused by high volumes of bad debt. By selling NPLs to the planned bourse, banks can remove bad assets from their books, allowing them to look healthier and more stable.
