MOROCCO HAVE FOURTH BIGGEST CURRENCY STOCK IN THE WORLD
Rabat, May 21 - Moroccans' deposits in foreign banks ,including those of public and private operators, jumped from USD 6.6Bn to 12.5Bn up to June 2007, revealed, here Tuesday, Moroccan Economy and Finance Minister, Salaheddine Mezouar, quoting statistics of Bank for International Settlements (BIS). Speaking at the House of Representatives' (lower house) question time, the minister made it clear that the 85% increase in Moroccans' deposits in foreign banks, between 1995 and 2007, has nothing to do with flight of capital as reported by some media. He said the increase is owed to the rise in the assets of Bank Al Maghrib, including the deposits which moved from USD 1.9Bn to USD 2.9Bn.
The rise is also due to the liberalization of investments for Moroccan banks, since May 2002, under the provisions of the exchange system which permit resorting to preferential settlements between domestic and international markets, which encourages depositing in international banks.
This might result in a rise in deposits of non-banking institutions, public and private, as well as those of natural persons, which stood at USD 490Mn, i.e. around 29 of the total of deposits, along with the deposits of Moroccan institutions that have their own subsidiaries abroad and those of Moroccan expatriates, he said.
The increase, he went on, is due to the rise in the assets of commercial banks and the central bank, Bank Al Maghrib, in the foreign banks, noting that the remaining 15% represents the deposits of non-banking operators.
The minister said that Moroccan capitals abroad strengthen Moroccan banks’ assets, adding that these operations take place pursuant to the exchange law in force.
