Moroccan Dirham Gains Against Euro, Falls Versus Dollar in Q4 2021

Compared to the currencies of the main emerging countries, the Moroccan currency appreciated by 23.93% against the Turkish lira and depreciated by 3.28% against the Chinese yuan, the central bank said in its monetary policy report, published following the first meeting of its council in 2022.

Under these conditions, the effective exchange rate increased by 1.03% in nominal terms and 0.2% in real terms, it is further specified. As for foreign exchange transactions, the average volume of spot transactions of banks with customers increased by 36% to 35.7 billion dirhams (MMDH) for sales and by 22.5% to 31.8 MMDH for purchases. As for forward purchases, they increased by 34% to 16.8 MMDH. Forward sales, for their part, increased by 55.9% to 6.6 MMDH.

What about the foreign exchange purchase auction operations? The central bank retained, during Q4-2021, a total amount of 979 million dollars, the equivalent of 9 MMDH. Under these conditions, the banks showed a deficit foreign exchange position of 3.7 MMDH at the end of December, compared to a surplus of 3.5 MMDH at the end of September 2021, the same source added.