Morocco’s Household and Business Debt Surpasses 1 Trillion Dirhams, Central Bank Reports

In detail, household loans recorded an increase of 4.6% to 363 BMDH, due to the 6% increase in housing loans and 1.3% in consumer loans. As for businesses, bank credit to non-financial agents increased by 4.1% to 848 BMDH, compared to 3.4% to 135 BMDH for that granted to financial agents.

To read: Moroccan Household Savings Rise as Bank Debt Declines Amid Pandemic

By sector of activity, we note an acceleration in the growth rate from 1.1% to 1.5% of credits granted to the "trade, automotive and household goods repair" sector and an improvement of 4.9% compared to a decrease of 0.3% for those intended for the "Transport and communications" sector. As for the "food and tobacco industries" and "textile, clothing and leather industries" sectors, the growth rates of credits decelerated from 9% to 7.7% and from 13.9% to 9.9% respectively. Credits to the "construction and public works" sector, on the other hand, fell by 4.5% after an increase of 4.6%.

To read: Moroccan Banks Face 14% Surge in Non-Performing Loans Amid COVID-19 Crisis

According to the results of the central bank’s survey on credit conditions available in the third quarter of 2021, the banks would have kept the lending criteria for businesses unchanged, with the exception of real estate development loans. As for non-performing loans, they increased by 7.2% for private non-financial companies and 7% for households.

To read: Morocco’s Bank Credit Growth Accelerates to 4.1% in June, Boosting Private Sector Lending

Furthermore, the liquidity needs of banks fell to 73.8 billion dirhams on average per week at the end of October 2021, compared to 83 billion a month earlier. The bank invested a total amount of 84.2 billion, including 32.8 billion in 7-day advances, 25.6 billion in the form of repurchase agreements and 25.8 billion in guaranteed loans. Household deposits with banks reached 775.7 BMDH, up 4.7% year-on-year, of which 185.4 BMDH held by Moroccans living abroad. Private company deposits, for their part, increased by 7.4%, to stand at 154.9 BMDH at the end of September.