Spain’s €754.3 million loan to Morocco carries 0.5% interest
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Bladi
An official Spanish Treasury document reveals that a €754.3 million loan granted to Morocco to buy trains carries an interest rate of 0.5% over 30 years. The financing, approved on 11 February 2025, is to allow Morocco’s National Railways Office to acquire up to 40 intercity trains, Bladi reports.
A Spanish loan of €754.3 million to Morocco’s National Railways Office (ONCF) carries an interest rate of 0.5% over 30 years, according to a Spanish Treasury table revealed by Bladi. The financing, guaranteed by the Kingdom of Morocco, is to be used to buy up to 40 intercity trains supplied by Spanish manufacturer CAF.
The loan, approved on 11 February 2025, provides for a five-year repayment grace period. It falls under the Spanish Fund for the Internationalisation of Companies (FIEM). In March 2025, Spain’s Ministry of Economy had refused to disclose the rate, citing a risk to foreign relations and negotiations over future loans.
The ministry later told the Spanish Council for Transparency that the Treasury published the terms of loans granted to foreign public borrowers every quarter. The revelation comes after Madrid denied, in a statement published on 30 October, that its railway loans to Morocco were grants. The €754.3 million loan is also at the heart of this Spanish railway financing in Morocco.
