After analyzing the Finance Bill (Projet de Loi de Finances, PLF) 2025, many people were left unhappy. The bill was supposed to reflect the four main priorities announced last August in a letter from the head of government, Aziz Akhannouch: strengthening the foundations of the social state, consolidating the momentum of investment and job creation, continuing to implement structural reforms and maintaining the sustainability of public finances. For the most part, these guidelines remain at the intention stage.
Among the major absences: a « real » strategy to boost employment, which is essential in the face of soaring unemployment, which reached 13.1% in the second quarter of 2024. « The current social crises, including the recent events at Fnideq (a massive illegal immigration attempt to reach Sebta on September 15), reflect the depth of the jobs crisis. This should have been the top priority, but no real effort has been made. We were promised the creation of a million jobs at the start of the mandate, but all we’ve seen since then is destruction », hammered Abdellah Bouanou, head of the parliamentary group of the Justice and Development Party (PJD) , when contacted by TelQuel.
Same old, same old
Although the Executive is highlighting the PLF’s allocation of 14 billion dirhams to promote employment, the member of parliament points to the absence of new programs and measures to encourage recruitment, as the strategies implemented to date have shown their limits. « We hear about training bonuses, Intelaka and Taehil programs… These are initiatives that already exist and have proved ineffective. We need innovation and concrete measures. We need to support and encourage companies directly to invest and recruit », he adds.
The same criticism was leveled by the Progress and Socialism Party (PPS), which, at the close of its most recent political bureau meeting, deemed the bill obsolete because it would not « boost the national economy, increase investment capacity, create the necessary jobs, resolve the difficulties faced by Moroccan companies, and improve the business climate while providing the conditions for fair and legitimate competition« .
« Let’s face it, such proposals are nothing new. They are already in the Ministry’s drawers. Once again, the government has lacked imagination. Much ado about nothing », insists Abdeslam Seddiki, former Minister of Employment and Social Affairs and member of the PPS political bureau.
SMEs: still no end in sight
Opposition parties are not the only ones to criticize the PLF 2025’s lack of ambition: the Moroccan Confederation of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (Confédération marocaine des TPE-PME) has come out in force to denounce a bill that offers no concrete solutions for small and medium-sized businesses and self-employed entrepreneurs, the beating heart of Morocco’s entrepreneurial fabric.
« Admittedly, the PLF 2025 announces an investment budget of 340 billion dirhams. But VSE-SMEs won’t benefit from this sum because of the failure to apply the public procurement code since 2013, which calls for 20% of public orders to be awarded to these companies. This measure has still not been implemented, due to the lack of implementing decrees, » laments Abdellah El Fergui, President of the Confederation.
In addition to speeding up publication of the implementing decrees for the public procurement code, the Confederation is proposing the introduction of concrete, measurable financing and support programs for these companies, which represent over 90% of the Moroccan entrepreneurial fabric. But also the introduction of tax incentives tailored to their needs and better management of late payments, which handicap VSE-SMEs‘ cash flow and prevent them from investing and recruiting.
Self-employed entrepreneurs: the big losers
Auto-entrepreneurs were also hoping for an overhaul of their tax system, which had become too burdensome since its revision two years ago. At its launch, the auto-entrepreneur scheme provided for two tax thresholds based on declared sales: 0.5% for industrial, commercial and craft activities, and 1% for the provision of services. However, since January 2023, annual sales in excess of 80,000 dirhams, made on behalf of the same customer, are excluded from this scheme, and subject to income tax at a rate of 30%.
This revision was decided by the Ministry of the Economy and Finance to combat fraud and « disguised salaried employment »: some employers have « hijacked » this status to avoid their contractual obligations towards their employees. Instead of being recruited as employees of the company, the latter remained « permanent freelancers », invoicing the amount corresponding to their salary on a monthly basis.
But the new tax system for auto-entrepreneurs is an « easy solution » that does not take into account the reality of the Moroccan ecosystem, points out Zakaria Fahim, President of the Bidaya Union of auto-entrepreneurs, who regrets that the authorities have not assumed their full responsibility by stepping up controls in companies to punish fraudsters, instead of punishing entrepreneurs who are fighting for their survival in an economy that is struggling to generate job opportunities for Moroccans.
« If the status was attractive when it was launched, it was because it gave auto-entrepreneurs a period of preparation and adaptation to develop their business. Most of them work with their former employers because they know them and trust them. You can’t say that an auto-entrepreneur who makes 80,000 dirhams in sales with a single customer has already succeeded. That’s around 4,000 a month if you take out all the other charges, » explains Zakaria Fahim.
What happened to pension reform?
Aside from support for entrepreneurship and job creation, one major reform seems to have been swept under the carpet: that of the pension system, long-awaited to preserve the financial equilibrium of the various social protection schemes.
« We’ve never stopped talking about the urgent need to activate this reform. A dialogue was held with the unions in April, and we were promised action in October. However, this was not taken into account in the Finance Bill, which is absurd. The Cour des Comptes and Bank Al-Maghrib are talking about it. We urgently need to push ahead with this reform. We need to show political courage and prioritize structural reforms before it’s too late, » insists Abdellah Bouanou.
The most recent studies carried out by the Insurance and Social Security Control Authority (Autorité de Contrôle des Assurances et de la Prévoyance Sociale, ACAPS) in 2021 show that Morocco’s main pension schemes are in a critical financial situation, accumulating substantial debt and reserves that will be exhausted in a few years’ time.
In the private sector, the CNSS pension scheme is expected to record its first overall deficit in 2026, with the exhaustion of its reserves scheduled for 2038, according to ACAPS. The two public-sector schemes, CMR-RPC and RCAR-RG, managed respectively by the Moroccan Pension Fund (Caisse marocaine des retraites) and the National Pension and Insurance Fund (Caisse nationale de retraites et d’assurances), will also see a deterioration due to the growing gap between retirements and recruitment in public administrations and establishments. The CMR-RPC thus recorded its first overall deficit in 2015 and is expected to exhaust its reserves between 2027 and 2028, while the second is set to record its first deficit this year, with reserves expected to be exhausted in 2052.
The only plan spared? The supplementary scheme, managed by the Moroccan Interprofessional Retirement Fund (CIMR, Caisse interprofessionnelle marocaine de retraite ), which should continue to record an overall surplus balance and accumulate reserves for at least 60 years.
For this future reform, supported by the Minister of Economy and Finance, Nadia Fettah, the Executive has suggested harmonizing the various existing schemes around two main poles: public and private. This restructuring is to be accompanied by a gradual increase in the retirement age, currently set at 63 in the public sector and 60 in the private sector, as well as an increase in contributions. These two measures have long been opposed by the unions and still seem to be delaying the implementation of the reform despite its necessity.
Written by Safae Hadri. Edited in English by S.E.
