Moroccan Dirham Holds Steady Against Euro, Gains on US Dollar

Foreign exchange purchase auction operations were carried out on October 12, during which BAM retained a total amount of 121 million dollars, the equivalent of 1.1 billion dirhams (MMDH), the central bank specifies. As of October 8, 2021, the outstanding official reserve assets remained almost stable week-on-week at 322 MMDH and increased by 9.2% year-on-year.

BAM reports that an amount of 80.4 MMDH was injected, including 27.8 MMDH in the form of 7-day advances on call for tenders and 25.8 MMDH in the form of repurchase agreements, during the same period. Similarly, 26.9 MMDH were injected as part of the support programs for SME financing.

On the interbank market, the average daily trading volume stood at 3.1 MMDH. As for the interbank rate, it averaged 1.5%. At the October 13 call for tenders (value date October 14), the central bank injected 30.9 MMDH in the form of 7-day advances.

On the stock market, the MASI appreciated by 0.8%, bringing its performance since the beginning of the year to 12.9%. This development is explained by the increases in the indices of the electricity sector of 4.9% and the banking and "buildings and construction materials" sectors of 0.7%. Conversely, the indices of the transport and "portfolio companies and holdings" sectors decreased by 4% and 3.5% respectively.

As for the overall trading volume, it amounted to 619.7 million dirhams (MDH), after 612.8 MMDH the previous week. Regarding the average daily volume on the central equity market, it stood at 114.2 MDH against 111.6 MDH the previous week.