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Liquidity pressures continue for Moroccan banks by the end of 2025, with financing needs nearing 129 billion dirhams.
Liquidity requirements at Moroccan banks reached high levels by the end of 2025, averaging weekly around 128.9 billion dirhams. This marks a slight increase compared to previous periods, indicating ongoing structural pressures related to the rise of cash transactions outside the banking system.
The Financial Studies and Forecasting Directorate under the Ministry of Economy and Finance reported a noticeable increase in liquidity needs during November, averaging 128.9 billion dirhams compared to 128.1 billion dirhams in the preceding period, confirming the continuation of structural liquidity shortages.
In the same context, the average trading volume in the interbank market fell by 4.7%, settling at approximately 4.3 billion dirhams in November. Meanwhile, the one-day weighted interbank interest rate has remained stable since March 20, aligning with Bank Al-Maghrib’s main interest rate of about 2.25%.
The Directorate confirmed that Bank Al-Maghrib’s interventions primarily included injecting seven-day advances totaling 67.6 billion dirhams, alongside one-month and three-month repurchase agreements of about 42.3 billion dirhams, in addition to guaranteed loans aimed at supporting financing for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, which amounted to nearly 100 billion dirhams.
The Directorate’s latest report on the economic situation indicated that liquidity injections from Bank Al-Maghrib averaged around 142 billion dirhams weekly, which contributed to mitigating the impacts of liquidity shortages on the money market.
This structural deficit, according to official economic reports, is attributed to the continuous increase in cash circulating outside the banking system, which has become one of the main challenges to deposit growth, amid a persistent reliance on cash payments, particularly in the informal trade sector, despite efforts to digitize and expand electronic payment methods.
Financial analysts believe that the banking sector will continue to face liquidity shortage pressures as long as cash transactions dominate a significant portion of dealings. However, Bank Al-Maghrib’s capacity to intervene and regulate monetary mechanisms remains crucial in avoiding any disruptions in financing the economy, while awaiting an acceleration in financial inclusion and reducing the gap between circulating cash and bank deposits.
In the effort to maintain the stability of the financial system, Bank Al-Maghrib intensified its interventions in the money market to ensure banks are supplied with the necessary liquidity. These interventions included injecting 81.3 billion dirhams in the form of seven-day advances, alongside 47.6 billion dirhams through repurchase agreements and long-term guaranteed loans targeted at supporting small and medium-sized enterprises.
These measures have contributed to maintaining stability in the interbank interest rate at 2.25%, without the pressures of liquidity affecting the cost of loans granted to households and businesses.
Conversely, data indicated that this deficit coincided with a noticeable growth in bank credit, with loans directed towards the non-financial sector rising by 4.1%, primarily driven by financing the treasury needs of private enterprises, alongside a relative stabilization in the growth pace of loans directed to households.
