• The 2026 budget earmarks 140 billion dirhams, up 18% year-on-year.

• Funds will complete new university hospitals and expand preschool access.

• The move follows public calls for more investment in basic services.

Morocco will allocate 140 billion dirhams ($15 billion) to the health and education sectors in the 2026 fiscal year, an 18% increase from the previous year. The announcement was made on Sunday, October 19, by Nadia Fettah Alaoui, Minister of Economy and Finance, during a Cabinet meeting chaired by King Mohammed VI.

According to the minister, part of the health budget will go toward improving infrastructure, including completing the construction and equipment of the Ibn Sina University Hospital Center in Rabat and commissioning two new university hospitals in Agadir and Laâyoune.

In education, the focus will be on expanding access to preschool, strengthening student support services, and improving education quality. The government also plans to extend social protection and implement a social assistance program benefiting four million households.

The budget increase confirms earlier statements by Fettah Alaoui, who said the government would adjust spending to prioritize health and education amid growing public pressure.

Since late September, Morocco has faced protests led by young people criticizing the gap between government spending on major sporting events—such as the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2030 FIFA World Cup co-hosted with Spain and Portugal—and the population’s basic needs.

“What we heard from the youth protests is that they want better education and better health,” Fettah Alaoui said on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings held in Washington from October 13 to 18, 2025.

Official data show that nearly 9% of Morocco’s GDP is devoted annually to financing health and education.