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Morocco Cracks Down on Wealthy Citizens’ Lavish Foreign Spending Amid Summer Travel Surge

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Morocco Cracks Down on Wealthy Citizens’ Lavish Foreign Spending Amid Summer Travel Surge

(3 Minutes Read)

Morocco’s Office of Foreign Exchange is intensifying oversight of the extravagant overseas expenditures of affluent Moroccan citizens, particularly during the high summer season when international travel peaks. With luxury vacations in European hotspots like France, Italy, and Switzerland becoming increasingly common, the government is now ramping up efforts to ensure such spending complies with national financial regulations.

As part of this crackdown, Moroccan authorities have begun working more closely with foreign financial institutions and regulatory bodies—especially in Europe—to monitor whether the funds being spent abroad align with the amounts individuals are legally permitted to transfer out of the country. According to sources cited by Hespress Ar, the Office of Foreign Exchange has launched a fresh series of investigations targeting how much Moroccan tourists are actually spending abroad, and whether any of these expenses involve illegal money transfers or undeclared cash.

Initial findings from these inspections have uncovered a pattern of extravagant spending. Moroccan travellers have reportedly paid for luxury hotel stays, upscale vehicle rentals, designer jewellery, and other costly goods, often using cash or foreign bank accounts that belong to relatives. These methods are frequently used to bypass Morocco’s official international banking systems, including legally authorised travel cards.

Authorities are now carefully comparing actual spending data to the state-mandated legal travel allowances. In recent years, Morocco raised these limits to give travellers more flexibility: citizens are currently permitted to spend up to 100,000 Moroccan dirhams (MAD) annually for tourism—an increase from the previous cap of MAD 45,000. Business travellers may now spend up to MAD 100,000 per trip, up from MAD 60,000. Expenditures beyond these thresholds are only authorised under specific and tightly controlled conditions.

However, investigators have found that some individuals are far exceeding these limits. When questioned, many claimed that the extra money came from loans or gifts from family members living abroad. Yet officials often remained skeptical, especially when the expenses included luxury watches, haute couture clothing, and other premium items clearly out of reach for the average declared travel budget.

Adding a modern twist to their investigative tools, authorities have started to monitor social media platforms. Many Moroccan travellers publicly share images and details of their high-end vacations online, unwittingly providing investigators with visual evidence of potential violations. These public posts are now being cross-referenced with financial declarations to detect discrepancies.

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This campaign is part of a broader national effort to combat money laundering, stem the illegal outflow of capital, and reinforce compliance with financial transparency regulations. As the summer travel season progresses, Moroccan authorities appear determined to clamp down on the misuse of foreign exchange allowances and ensure that the wealth flowing abroad is being tracked—and taxed—appropriately.