The Kingdom’s General Treasury reported that the implementation of the territorial municipalities’ budgets showed a total surplus of 7.1 billion dirhams at the end of October 2023, compared to a total surplus of 8.5 billion dirhams recorded a year ago.

The Treasury explained, in its latest monthly bulletin on local financial statistics, that this surplus, which takes into account a positive balance of special accounts and attached budgets of 1.391 billion dirhams, is directed to cover the agreed-upon expenses that must be paid during the year 2023.

The same source added that with regard to the regular revenues of territorial communities, they amounted to 37.6 billion dirhams, an increase of 3.5 percent compared to the end of October 2022, explaining this development by an increase in transferred revenues by 1.6 percent, and revenues administered by the state by 7 percent. 1 percent, and revenues managed by territorial communities by 6.3 percent.

For their part, the regular expenditures of the territorial communities amounted to 20.9 billion dirhams, an increase of 2.8 percent, due to the increase in expenses for other goods and services by 6.4 percent and debt interest payments by 3.3 percent, coupled with a decrease in employee expenses by 0.7 percent.

The total expenditures incurred by the territorial communities (regular expenditures, investment expenditures and repayment of principal) at the end of October 2023 amounted to a total of 33.9 billion dirhams, an increase of 7.5 percent compared to their level at the end of October 2022.

These expenses comprise up to 61.7 percent of regular expenses.

Moreover, the Kingdom’s General Treasury reported, with regard to the total surpluses included in the budgets of territorial groups for the end of October 2023, that it amounted to 52.9 billion dirhams, and includes the surpluses of previous years and the surplus of the year 2023 (7.1 billion dirhams).

These surpluses were allocated to cover the scheduled and contracted expenses or those scheduled for the past years and the unpaid years, in addition to the agreed upon and unpaid expenses for the year 2023.