Morocco’s 2027 budget lifts defense spending, offers sweeping World Cup-related tax breaks

Morocco’s draft 2027 budget forecasts 3.7% growth, below the 5% annual average the government set for 2027-31 in the five-year plan it presented four days earlier. The budget will see spending rise 8.4% to MAD 825 bn (USD 83.68 bn), while revenues are set to rise 10.4% to MAD 786 bn (USD 79.73 bn), Finance and Economy Minister Fouzi Lekjaa told Parliament, leaving the deficit near 3% of GDP — the ceiling the five-year plan set for 2031.

Public investment is set at MAD 400 bn (USD 40.7 bn), of which MAD 251 bn flows through public enterprises and establishments including the Mohammed VI Investment Fund. Energy, transport, water, housing, and infrastructure are the priorities, and territorial authorities get MAD 25 bn for local development. The five-year plan had private capital funding two-thirds of national investment.

The budget creates north of 34k public-sector jobs, 57.2% of them at the Interior Ministry and the National Defense Administration. Defense commitments run to MAD 190.5 bn (USD 19.4 bn) for acquiring and repairing military equipment and building a domestic defense industry, up 21.2% on last year.

AND- FIFA, its subsidiaries, tournament partners, and key personnel would be exempt from corporate income tax, the social solidarity contribution on profits and income, and VAT from January 2027 to the end of 2032, under a World Cup tax framework the bill proposes. Equipment and goods imported for the tournament get temporary customs exemptions, and a World Cup Legacy Fund would be permanently tax-exempt to fund sports infrastructure, youth football, and social programs after 2030. Morocco co-hosts the tournament with Spain and Portugal.