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Fez – Bank Al-Maghrib (BAM), Morocco central bank, met all of the banking demand for liquidity during the week of January 14-20, 2022, according to a recent report by the Attijari Global Research (AGR).
Published this week under the title of “Weekly Hebdo Taux – Fixed Income,” AGR’s latest note suggests that the Moroccan banking sector is remarkably recovering from the COVID-induced disruptions.
“While meeting the entire banking demand, BAM keeps its weekly interventions consistent through its main operations,” writes AGR, adding that Morocco’s central bank’s liquidity injections were set at MAD 74.3 billion ($8 billion) in recent weeks.
According to the note, BAM’s 7-day advances jumped from MAD 3.7 billion ($398.80 million) to MAD 34.1 billion ($3.67 billion) in one week, while guaranteed loans declined by the same amount.
This week, five existing guaranteed loan lines totaling MAD 4.2 million ($452.6 thousand) expired, while BAM established a new line of MAD 582 million ($62.76 million). Interbank rates are in line with BAM’s official policy rate, and Moroccan Overnight Index Average (MONIA) rates are stabilizing at around 1.43 %.
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In contrast, the year 2021 ended with a deficit of MAD 64.8 billion ($7 billion), down MAD 18.6 billion ($2 billion) from the previous year and MAD 6.7 billion ($722 million) from November 2021, reflecting increased foreign exchange reserves.
Meanwhile, Morocco’s Treasury has boosted its repo and unsecured investments marginally, according to AGR, with the latter rising to MAD 5.6 billion ($603.54 million) from MAD 4.6 billion $(495.76 million) last week.
Morocco’s banking sector was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic but it recovered strongly in the first quarter of 2021, according to FitchRatings, an American credit rating organization.
The North African country has continued to modernize its financial industry and is now home to some of Africa’s largest banks.
Local banks dominate Morocco’s banking sector, accounting for 82.3% of the country’s financial institutions — 19 regular banks, five Islamic banks, 32 financing entities, 13 lending bodies, seven offshore banks, and nine money transfer entities make up the Moroccan banking landscape.
