King Mohammed VI, accompanied by Crown Prince Moulay El Hassan, received Bank Al-Maghrib (BAM) Governor Abdellatif Jouahri on Monday at the Royal Palace in Tetouan, where Jouahri presented the central bank’s annual report on the economic, monetary and financial situation for fiscal year 2025.
In his address, Jouahri noted that despite a turbulent international environment marked by successive shocks, Morocco’s economy continued improving in 2025, posting growth of 4.9 percent supported notably by a significant investment effort, while inflation remained moderate at no more than 0.8 percent on average.
On monetary policy, Jouahri confirmed that BAM maintained an accommodative stance, lowering the key rate to 2.25 percent while continuing to fully satisfy banks’ liquidity requests and intensifying efforts to facilitate financing access for very small enterprises. On the labor market, he noted that stronger growth allowed job creation to rise, though not enough to meaningfully reduce unemployment, which stood at 13 percent. On public finances, the budget deficit continued narrowing to 3.5 percent of GDP, supported by strong tax revenue performance and substantial receipts from innovative financing mechanisms.
On external accounts, the current account deficit remained contained, supported by travel receipts, remittances from Moroccans living abroad, and exports of phosphates and derivatives and the aeronautics sector. Official reserve assets strengthened to 443 billion dirhams, equivalent to nearly five and a half months of imports. Jouahri concluded that these developments confirm Morocco’s continued economic momentum, reinforcing hopes for economic and social emergence in the coming years — though achieving that goal requires, beyond sustained growth, a better distribution of its benefits.
Jouahri highlighted a persistent gap between objectively measured economic performance and citizens’ perceptions — a global phenomenon he attributed in Morocco’s case primarily to employment not yet improving as expected, calling for stronger investment spillover effects, continued structural reforms and greater private sector involvement to ensure sustainability. He also linked the gap to social inequality levels, recalling the King’s 2025 Throne Speech warning that there is no place, today or tomorrow, for a two-speed Morocco, and called for finer targeting of social support toward the most vulnerable population segments despite substantial resources already allocated.
BAM Governor stressed the need for resource rationalization to strengthen fiscal room for maneuver given elevated incompressible spending and the now-inevitable pension system reform, calling for regular spending reviews and accelerated reform of the organic finance law. He addressed the necessity of building strategic reserves for essential goods given recurring global supply chain disruptions, accelerating the energy transition to reduce external dependence, prioritizing water resource governance amid climate change, and consolidating momentum on advanced regionalization to foster regional economic poles and reduce territorial inequalities.
Jouahri presented the King with the central bank’s 2025 annual report along with a commemorative solid gold coin issued by BAM to mark the first anniversary of Aid Al Wahda.