Morocco's economy grew 4.9% in 2025, driven by strong investment while inflation remained subdued at 0.8%, Bank Al-Maghrib Governor Abdellatif Jouahri told King Mohammed VI on Monday as he presented the central bank's annual report during an audience at the Royal Palace in Tetouan.
Jouahri said Morocco's economic resilience came despite an international environment marked by successive shocks and persistent uncertainty. The central bank maintained an accommodative monetary policy, cutting its benchmark interest rate to 2.25%, while continuing to provide liquidity to commercial banks and expanding financing support for very small enterprises. Although stronger growth helped create jobs, unemployment remained high at 13%, underscoring the need for broader employment gains.
On the fiscal front, Jouahri said the budget deficit narrowed to 3.5% of GDP, supported by robust tax revenues and innovative financing mechanisms. Morocco's external position also remained resilient, with the current account deficit contained thanks to tourism receipts, remittances from Moroccans living abroad, phosphate and fertilizer exports, and the aeronautics industry. Official foreign exchange reserves increased to 443 billion dirhams ($48 billion), equivalent to nearly five and a half months of imports.
Despite the favorable macroeconomic indicators, Jouahri warned that economic performance has yet to translate into improved public sentiment. He said the gap between measured growth and citizens' perceptions reflects insufficient job creation and persistent social inequality, recalling King Mohammed VI's 2025 Throne Day warning that Morocco "cannot be a two-speed country." He called for more effective targeting of social support, stronger returns from investment through education and structural reforms, greater private-sector participation, and accelerated implementation of pension reform to preserve fiscal sustainability.
The governor also urged Morocco to establish strategic reserves of essential goods, in line with the King's 2021 directives, arguing that recurring global supply-chain disruptions require a shift from crisis response to prevention. He called for a faster energy transition to reduce dependence on imports and strengthen exporters' competitiveness as climate-related trade standards become more widespread, while also urging that water governance and pricing become national policy priorities amid growing climate pressures.
Jouahri further stressed that Morocco should accelerate the implementation of advanced regionalization by strengthening regional institutions and developing regional economic hubs capable of reducing territorial disparities. He concluded that sustaining the country's economic progress would require coordinated action by all institutions under the leadership of the monarchy. During the audience, the governor presented King Mohammed VI with the central bank's 2025 annual report and a commemorative solid gold coin marking the first anniversary of Unity Day.
