France Proposes Bill to Cut Remittance Costs for Immigrants, Including Moroccans

The French government has recently submitted to parliament its report on "the modalities for reducing the transaction costs of remittances made by persons residing in France to persons residing in countries eligible for official development assistance," reports the newspaper Les Inspirations Éco, wondering if this is "positive signals in favor of reducing the transaction costs of remittances from Moroccans living abroad."

To read: Presidential Candidate Proposes Blocking Remittances to Pressure Deportation Compliance

This report aims to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 10 (Reduce inequalities within and among countries) one of the sub-goals of which is to "reduce, by 2030, the transaction costs of migrant remittances to less than 3% and eliminate remittance corridors with costs exceeding 5%," explains an expert.

While the reduction of remittance costs is to be welcomed, the elimination of remittance corridors with costs exceeding 5% would on the other hand be considered a ban on the activity of remittances for purposes other than commercial, specifies the same source, stressing that "the effects of such a measure would be disastrous with the deprivation of recipient countries and families of funds whose transfer would thus be prohibited."

To read: Moroccan Diaspora Remittances Surge 43% to Nearly 80 Billion Dirhams

The measure could also lead to "an exponential development of covert transfers, the amount of which would already be equivalent to official transfers, to the detriment of the fight against the financing of terrorism and money laundering," assures the newspaper, recalling that remittances in foreign currency from Moroccans living abroad have been on the rise since the start of the health crisis, reaching a record of around 100 billion dirhams in 2021. This trend is expected to contract by 23.2% to 72.8 billion dirhams in 2022 and by 1.9% to 71.4 billion dirhams in 2023.

The largest remittances from Moroccans living abroad come from France (10%), Saudi Arabia (12%) and the United States (14%).