King urges Morocco’s financial sector to fund next phase of growth

King Mohammed VI urged Morocco’s banks and financial institutions to direct more domestic savings toward small businesses, industry and exports, putting the country’s financing model at the centre of its next investment cycle.

“The process of economic and social transformation requires unprecedented financial resources, the bulk of which must be raised through domestic financing,” the King said in his Throne Day speech.

Morocco is scaling up spending on transport, water, renewable energy and urban infrastructure ahead of the 2030 World Cup, while pushing into higher-value industries including automobiles, aerospace and electric batteries.

Foreign investment has helped finance that transformation, particularly in manufacturing and renewable energy. But the scale of the projects now under way, and the need to build stronger domestic supply chains around them, means external capital alone will not be sufficient.

The King’s call places greater responsibility on Morocco’s own banks, institutional investors and capital markets to mobilise savings and direct them toward productive investment.

 Banks remain well capitalised and central to economic growth, but credit is concentrated among large companies with established balance sheets, while smaller businesses struggle to obtain funding.

The King called for a “qualitative shift” in access to bank and non-bank financing for small and medium-sized enterprises, innovation, industrialisation and exports.

He also urged the financial sector to make better use of the savings held by pension funds, insurers and investment vehicles.

“I look forward to seeing the financial sector focus on opening up broader, more innovative prospects to ensure optimal mobilization of national savings – particularly at institutional level – and to boost financial markets so as to accelerate the development dynamic in an emerging Morocco,” he said.

The message raises pressure on banks, regulators and public financing bodies to broaden the range of instruments available to companies, including guarantees, private-equity funding, corporate bonds and stock-market listings.

Morocco’s capital markets have gained momentum but remain shallow compared with the banking system.

The Casablanca Stock Exchange’s market capitalisation climbed to 1.04 trillion dirhams at the end of 2025, up more than 38% from a year earlier, while the benchmark MASI index gained 27.6% to close at 18,846 points.

The rally pushed the market above the 1 trillion-dirham threshold for the first time, helped by rising valuations and new equity transactions. Yet relatively few companies use public markets to raise capital, leaving bank loans as the main source of corporate finance.

That dependence is particularly acute for smaller firms, which often lack the collateral, audited accounts or scale required to satisfy bank risk requirements or attract institutional investors.

The World Bank has said Morocco’s smaller companies remain heavily dependent on bank credit and are often poorly positioned to attract equity or long-term market financing.

Earlier World Bank data also found that 28.4% of Moroccan companies identified access to finance as a major obstacle to growth, with smaller firms particularly affected by limited collateral and thin credit histories.