A recent ranking by financial analysis website Insider Monkey highlights Morocco as one of the world’s most indebted countries to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
According to the ranking, based on data up to March 24th, Morocco is ranked 17th out of 20 listed countries.
The Kingdom owes the IMF a total of $1.34 billion, with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) exceeding $130 billion.
Within the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, Tunisia follows closely at 20th globally, with a $1.14 billion IMF debt.
Jordan sits at 14th with a debt of around $1.5 billion. Egypt takes the second-place spot worldwide, owing over $11 billion to the IMF despite a 2022 GDP exceeding $476 billion.
Looking at Africa, South Africa ranks ninth with a debt of $2.29 billion. Argentina tops the list with a staggering $32 billion debt, although their GDP surpasses $631 billion.
Several other African nations appear in the ranking, including Senegal (18th) and the Democratic Republic of Congo (15th) with a $1.45 billion debt. Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Kenya, and Angola are also listed, with Angola’s $3 billion debt making it the second-most indebted African nation after Egypt.
War-torn Ukraine is the only European country on the list, ranking third with a debt exceeding $8.4 billion, but managed to repay over $542 million this month.
Insider Monkey concludes that most of the most indebted countries are African, attributing this to declining economic growth (from 4.1% in 2022 to 3.2% in 2023) due to various factors.
These include economic shocks, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, geopolitical uncertainty in the Middle East, and tightening monetary and financial policies in some countries.
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