Morocco to raise social protection, health and education budgets in 2025

The Moroccan government has elaborated a 2025 budget that bolsters spending on social protection as well as on the health and education reform, finance minister Nadia Fettah Alaoui said.

The government will press ahead with the generalization of mandatory health coverage, financial assistance to needy families, and will launch the generalization of the pension system, as it also continues the reform of the health and education sectors, the minister told members of Parliament in a presentation.

The budget assumes a 4.6% growth rate in 2025, up from 3.3% this year, she said.

The growth forecast is based on an expectation of a cereals harvest of 70 million quintals and a 3.2% increase in foreign demand outside phosphates, she said, underscoring that so far this year, FDIs are on the rise, while the tourism sector is about to hit a new record, both in terms of arrivals and receipts.

The budget deficit is expected to shrink to 3.5% in 2025 from 4% this year, she said, noting that the government was implementing a tax reform to increase the tax base without adding to the tax burden.

She said the government plans to safeguard public finances, expecting the treasury debt to drop to below 69% in 2026.

The draft budget also provides for lowering income tax on the middle class, with a total exemption of people earning monthly wages less than 6000 dirhams, the minister said.

Morocco also braces for the launch of major infrastructure projects as it prepares to host the 2030 World Cup and as it continues post-earthquake relief along with reconstruction of homes and facilities destroyed by the recent floods, she said.