Morocco may activate its $4.5 billion IMF Flexible Credit Line (FCL) if global oil prices surge beyond $120 per barrel, Morocco’s central bank governor Abdellatif Jouahri said, highlighting that the country maintains powerful liquidity backstops and solid macro-economic fundamentals in the face of rising geopolitical uncertainty.
Speaking at a press conference in Rabat following the central bank’s quarterly board meeting, Jouahri said the FCL can be used “immediately and without prior conditions,” noting that Morocco previously tapped a similar IMF mechanism in 2020 during the COVID‑19 crisis to secure $3 billion in emergency funding.
The existence of the credit line itself is evidence of Morocco’s solid macro‑economic fundamentals, he said.
Morocco signed the two‑year FCL arrangement with the IMF in April 2025 as a precautionary shield intended to boost resilience to global shocks.
Using the line is not being considered at present, with oil still trading around $100 per barrel and Morocco’s foreign currency reserves covering the equivalent of six months of imports, a level he described as “comfortable” for now.
Early assessments suggest the economic impact of the widening Middle East conflict remains contained in the short term, but warned that the fallout “could be significantly larger” if the war drags on.
Morocco is used to managing such crises, having faced multiple global shocks over the past 15 years, from the global financial crisis to pandemic‑era turbulence and subsequent commodity‑price volatility, he said.
Amid moderate inflation expected to remain stable at 0.8% this year, the bank kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 2.25% for the fourth consecutive meeting.
To navigate the uncertainty, Bank Al‑Maghrib and the Ministry of Economy and Finance have established a joint monitoring taskforce that meets frequently to track global developments and reassess risks to Morocco’s economy.
The first signs of the conflict’s domestic impact emerged this week as fuel distributors raised pump prices by 2 dirhams per liter.
Morocco imports all of its refined petroleum products, making it highly exposed to global price volatility. Fuel imports surpassed $10 billion last year, according to official trade data.
