Moroccan Dirham Hits 2-Month Low Against Dollar, Crossing 9 MAD Threshold

In its weekly note "MAD Insights - Currencies", AGR specifies that the USD/MAD parity has thus crossed the 9 threshold upwards, its highest level since early December last. AGR analysts note that in parallel, the banks’ foreign exchange position has been almost stable around 5.5 billion dirhams (MMDH) due to a visible balance between import/export flows.

The liquidity spreads, measuring the gap between the reference rate and the central rate of the MAD, widened by 32 basis points (PBS) in one week, they note. These spreads have thus fallen to -3.6% against -3.28% a week earlier. In the end, the market effect on the MAD is negative at -0.33%, against a significant basket effect of +0.85%, the experts point out.

Furthermore, the EUR/USD parity, in one week, went from 1.21 to 1.20, AGR reports. The analysts note that the euro fell below $1.20 on February 4. A first time since December 1, 2020. The restrictions put in place in the face of the worrying developments of the Covid-19 variants in England and South Africa are severely penalizing the euro.