Morocco Advances Toward More Flexible Dirham Exchange Rate

The Minister of Economy, Finance and Administration Reform, Mohamed Benchaâboun, assured on Thursday, February 20, that Morocco is committed to taking the next step towards a more flexible exchange rate for its currency. On January 15, 2018, Morocco had adopted a floating exchange rate regime, under which the dirham parity is determined within an expanded fluctuation band of 2.5%, compared to 0.3% previously.

According to Mohamed Benchaaboun, Morocco has made progress two years later: a stable dirham and positive macroeconomic indicators. All things that reassure him to say that the kingdom is ready to continue its "sovereign and progressive" approach to the flexibility of its currency.

To succeed in this second stage, he advocates synergy of actions between the Ministry of Finance and Bank Al-Maghrib (BAM). For his part, the Governor of the Central Bank, Abdellatif Jouahri, indicates that it is "the second stage of a first phase" of the process aimed at obtaining greater exchange rate flexibility.

On a working visit to Rabat, where she discussed the preparations for the meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group, which will be held in October 2021 in Marrakech, Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the IMF, welcomed this "prudent and measured" approach of the kingdom.