TGR: A budget deficit of 54.1 billion dirhams at the end of August

The budget deficit of 54.1 billion dirhams at the end of August includes a negative balance of 2.5 billion dirhams from the Treasury's special accounts and a negative balance of 1.4 billion dirhams from autonomously managed state services, according to the Treasury General Directorate (TGR) in its monthly public finance statistics bulletin. Gross ordinary revenues increased by 18.7% to reach 271.7 billion dirhams by the end of August. Meanwhile, ordinary expenditures rose by 16.5% to 252 billion dirhams, resulting in a positive ordinary balance of 19.7 billion dirhams. The increase in ordinary revenues is attributed to a rise in direct taxes (+25.9%), customs duties (+3.6%), indirect taxes (+11.4%), registration and stamp duties (+6.7%), and non-tax revenues (+31.2%). General budget expenditures amounted to 360.2 billion dirhams at the end of August, reflecting a 6.7% increase compared to the same period in 2024. This rise is due to a 17.7% increase in operational expenditures and a 7.3% increase in investment expenditures, coupled with a 17.8% decrease in budgeted debt charges. Interest charges on the debt reached 33.8 billion dirhams (+9.3%), resulting from a 14.6% increase in domestic debt interest charges (27.6 billion dirhams compared to 24.1 billion dirhams) and a 9.6% decrease in external debt interest charges (6.2 billion dirhams compared to 6.8 billion dirhams). Total expenditure commitments, including those not subject to prior approval, amounted to 574.8 billion dirhams, representing an overall commitment rate of 59% compared to 63% at the end of August 2024. The issuance rate on commitments was 86%, slightly up from 85% a year earlier. Regarding special accounts, revenues reached 132.7 billion dirhams, including contributions received from common investment charges of the general budget amounting to 20.5 billion dirhams, down from 21.7 billion dirhams a year earlier. Issued expenditures totaled 135.2 billion dirhams, incorporating the share of special accounts for refunds, tax reductions, and restitutions amounting to 4 billion dirhams. Autonomously managed state services generated revenues of 2.07 billion dirhams (+30.1%) and expenditures of 975 million dirhams. Given a financing need of 75.6 billion dirhams and a positive net flow of external financing of 25.5 billion dirhams, the Treasury resorted to domestic financing amounting to 50.2 billion dirhams.