Bank Al Maghrib: Bank loans increased by 5.5% along with deposits

In its latest “Bank Loans and Deposits” dashboard, Morocco’s central bank Bank Al Maghrib revealed that the current amount of bank loans amounted to MAD 1,090.3 billion in January, an annual increase of 5.5% despite the high national key rate.

The central bank explained that this current amount is distributed between non-financial agents taking up MAD 916.1 billion, and financial agents with a share of MAD 174.2 billion.

The annual decline of 0.9% in loans to private non-financial enterprises was mainly due to a contraction in treasury facilities and real estate revitalization loans by 9.4% and 2.3%, respectively, and a 5.1% increase in processing loans, BAM said.

The results of the Bank of Morocco’s economic conditions survey showed that access to bank financing during the fourth quarter of 2023 was considered normal for 78% of industrial enterprises, and difficult for 22% of them.

66% of businesses considered the cost of credit to have remained stable, while 28% felt an increase.

According to the survey on credit conditions for the fourth quarter of 2023, conditions remained unchanged for treasury loans, eased for equipment loans and tightened for real estate revitalization loans.

By enterprise size, they remained stable for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and large enterprises.

In terms of demand, it increased for treasury and equipment loans and decreased for real estate revitalization loans. By enterprise size, it increased for large, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).

BAM explained that household deposits amounted to MAD 857.1 billion, an annual increase of 3.6%, including MAD 204 billion held by Moroccans living abroad, while private enterprise deposits rose by 9.2% to MAD 200.5 billion.

Deposits with banks rose to MAD 1,153.8 billion in January 2024, a growth of 2.5% compared to the same month last year, according to the Bank of Morocco.

Yield rates on 12-month deposits decreased by 24 basis points, and by one basis point on 6-month deposit rates, to 2.81% and 2.59% respectively at the end of January 2024.

The minimum interest rate for savings accounts was set at 2.73% for the first half of 2024, a decrease of 25 basis points compared to the previous half-year.