Pensions: Weakened systems and reserves under pressure
With less than a year to go before the elections, the executive branch is attempting to revive an urgent project: pension reform. At the meeting on July 17, 2025, Nadia Fettah, Minister of Economy, presented a worrying assessment of the pension systems, and a working method was put in place.
A technical commission bringing together representatives of the state, pension funds, employers, and unions is set to examine reform scenarios starting in September. But already, the social partners are denouncing proposals they consider too painful for employees whose purchasing power is eroding.
In this context, the 2024 report on financial stability, published by the Systemic Risk Coordination and Monitoring Committee (CCSRS), paints an uncompromising picture. The financial sustainability of the system is seriously compromised, despite some temporary improvements due to wage increases in 2024.
Behind the figures lies a stark reality: contributions are no longer sufficient to cover benefits, technical balances are in deficit in almost all basic schemes, and reserves are dwindling year after year.
In any case, the report is clear: parametric reform is inevitable. It calls for an adjustment of the contribution rate, an extension of the working life, and an overhaul of the mechanism for acquiring rights. These are all politically sensitive measures, especially in the run-up to an election.
What is now at stake is the very viability of the system. According to actuarial projections, the salary increases of 2024–2025 would only delay the depletion of the civil service pension fund reserves by two to three years. This is a fragile reprieve in a context of accelerated aging and a persistent deterioration in the ratio of contributors to retirees.
Since April 2024, however, the broad outlines of a structural reform have been agreed upon in the context of social dialogue. The proposed architecture is based on the creation of two clusters, public and private, backed by balanced pricing and rationalization of rights. The technical decisions are ready but are still awaiting political compromises in order to move forward.
The specter of an increase in the legal retirement age, coupled with an increase in contributions, is perceived by the unions as a double penalty for insured persons. This is in a context where less than 55% of the working population is covered by a pension scheme and where informality deprives millions of workers of any protection.
Khadija MASMOUDI
