Morocco

General Information     |     Tax measures – Direct and Indirect     |     Employment-related measures     |     Economic stimulus measures     |     Other measures and sources     |     Recovery Plan Overview

Return to homepage  |  Last updated: 14 October, 2020

Morocco has reduced its key interest rate to 1,5% and released 3,3 billion dollars to fight against coronavirus. The Kingdom has also put in place a Business Intelligence Committee (Comité de Veille Economique or CVE) to look at Morocco’s economical situation under the Coronavirus crisis and to take appropriate measures. The CVE includes Morocco’s relevant Ministries, banking professionals’ federation, private sector association, Chambers of commerce, industry and services federation and chambers of crafts federation. The CVE has already taken some measures related to tax, employment and economy stimulus.

• Cancellation of all penalties and surcharges for late payment on all arrears of contributions prior to June 2020 for any employer affiliated to the CNSS (“Moroccan Social Security Fund”) whose activity has been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and fulfilling the conditions provided for by decree 2.20.331. To benefit from the exemption, employers are required to pay the full principal amount of the debt or resort to payment facilities that can extend up to 60 months with payment of the contributions due for the period of the schedule.
• Social security measures granted to Tourism sector:
  • Measure 1: the granting of a net monthly lump sum indemnity of 2,000 DH, from July 1, 2020 until December 31, 2020 to employees and trainees under an integration contract (“contrat d’insertion”) declared to the CNSS in February 2020 and falling under employers in difficulty affiliated to the CNSS whose activity is impacted by the Coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19).
  • Measure 2: The postponement of the payment of social contributions due to the CNSS for the period from July 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020 with free remission of the late payments for the aforementioned period, on condition that the principal of the debt is settled within a period of up to 18 months from January 1, 2021.
  • Measure 3: Exemption from the CNSS contribution base from the additional remuneration for the benefit of employees and trainees under integration contract, until December 31, 2020, under the conditions set by the circular note of the General Directorate of Taxes re-registered under number 878/20 / DGI of April 21, 2020. The implementation of this measure should be ensured in accordance with the regulations in force.

• The Council decided to reduce the key interest (“taux directeur”) rate by from 2,25% to 1,5%.
• Morocco released 3,3 billion dollars for the fight against coronavirus.
• The government has taken a series of measures including:
  • Liquidity support to SMEs and micro-enterprises continuing to operate and facing difficulties during this period;
  • Grant of additional lines of bank credits thanks to a warranty to be soon issued by the “Caisse Centrale de Garantie” (ie. A State Guarantee Fund);
  • The possibility of recourse by the banks to all the refinancing instruments available in dirham and in foreign currency;
  • The extension to a very wide range of securities and bills accepted by the central bank in return for the refinancing granted to the banks;
  • The extension the refinancing period and the integration of operating loans with investment loans in the context of refinancing companies

• Government of Morocco;
• Agreement to support the tourism sector signed on August 31st 2020 by the Government, CNSS and the National Tourism Confederation;
  
• Joint decision between Ministry of employment and the Ministry of Economy & Finance to authorize the cancellation of penalties for late payment on social security contributions (signed on September 25th 2020);
  
• Rectifying Financial Law n°35-20 for the budget year 2020;
  
• « Pacte pour la relance économique et l’emploi » signed on August 6th 2020 by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the CGEM & the GBPM;
  

• Recovery plan : Pacte pour la relance économique et l’emploi
• Budget : 120 billion dirhams
• Announcement : August 6th 2020
• Main orientations : Relaunch the economic dynamic, Safeguard and promote employment and preserve the health of workers, Speed ​​up the process of formalizing the economy, Promote good governance.

The ambitious recovery plan provided within the  “Pacte pour la relance économique et l’emploi” expects to inject 120 billion dirhams into the Morccan economy. This amount breaks down as follows:

75 billion dirhams of loans guaranteed by the State

These stimulus loans will concern all business segments. The Central Guarantee Fund (CCG) will be responsible for managing this guarantee system. To do so, an institutional reform of this body has been initiated: it consists in particular of its transformation into a public limited company called "the National Company for Guarantee and Financing of the Company", with an initial capital of 5 billion DH, provided by the State budget, intended to cover the default risks of beneficiary companies.

Key Measures
This financing mechanism, considered as a continuity of the banking financing product called “Damane Oxygene”, aims to provide all companies negatively impacted by the effects of the pandemic with optimal financing conditions for restarting / accelerating their operating cycle. It is mainly based on two guarantee instruments, namely:

• “Relance TPE": State guarantee up to 95% for loans granted to VSEs, whose turnover is less than 10 million dirhams;
• "Damane Relance": State guarantee varying between 80% and 90% of loans depending on the size of the company. This guarantee covers loans granted for companies with a turnover of more than 10 million dirhams.

Through this new mechanism, the objective is to allow the reconstitution of the working capital of companies and thus reduce the level of inter-company loans which has reached a worrying level.

Sectors/Industries/Areas affected (mainly)

• Production sector, Export industries, Agriculture, Equipment, Construction/Real Estate, Tourism, Education, Healthcare, Digitization, Green economy

45 billion dirhams allocated to a Recovery Fund (Essor)

This fund is financed by 15 billion dirhams by the State and 30 billion dirhams mobilized from national and international institutions.

Key Measures
This fund will intervene directly in investment projects using public private partnerships (PPP).
It will also act indirectly by strengthening the capital of companies for their development. The selection of projects would be based on criteria based on their impact on job creation.

Sectors/Industries/Areas affected (mainly)

• Production sector, Export industries, Agriculture, Equipment, Construction/Real Estate, Tourism, Education, Healthcare, Digitization, Green economy