Morocco Negotiates with EU to Safeguard Vital Remittances from Expatriates

These negotiations will be conducted by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Economy and Finance, Bank Al Maghrib and Moroccan banking groups, and aim to ensure that the European directive concerning banks will not be an obstacle to the transfer of funds by MREs, which amount to more than 100 billion dirhams per year, or 8% of the gross domestic product (GDP), Abdellatif Jouahri said at a press conference last week.

These remittances from MREs, which constitute an important source of financing for the Moroccan economy, could reach a record 115 billion dirhams this year, according to Al3omk. The European directive in question aims to require foreign bank subsidiaries established in Europe to promote European financial products or services and not those from their country of origin.

Thus, the subsidiaries of Moroccan banks present in the European Union will no longer be authorized to sell Moroccan financial products, which could lead to a stagnation or even a decrease in the number of their clients.