asarou
October 1st, 2008, 03:19 AM
The Moroccan financial sector is safe from the shocks witnessed recently in the United States and Europe, according to the director of the nation's central bank. Abdellatif Jouahri said the Moroccan economy is less exposed to risk because it is less advanced than the economies of developed nations.
The financial crisis affecting the United States and other major world markets has analysts concerned about the health of the Moroccan economy. Abdellatif Jouahri, Governor of Bank Al-Maghrib, Morocco's central bank, recently assured the public that Moroccan banks are not at risk, though the economy could be harmed by the broader economic slowdown triggered by overseas financial malaise.
Jouahri stressed at a press conference held Thursday (September 25th) in Casablanca that Morocco has not been affected by the global financial crisis that began in earnest with the bankruptcy of American financial services juggernaut Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. Morocco is not vulnerable to the global financial crisis, he said, because the nation's banking institutions cannot afford the kind of activities that caused the US collapse.
The Moroccan financial sector does not have assets in overseas banks facing difficulties, Jouahri said. Overseas assets held by Moroccan banks total just 31 billion dirhams, or 4% of total resources, which he said is an insignificant ratio.
The bank conducted an internal audit to assess the institution's vulnerability, Jouahri said, applying a "control and risk analysis strategy... hinging on the principle of self-assessment by units and their extent of risk."
He said that the bank has re-examined its code of ethics and precautionary rules to strengthen internal procedures in a more volatile international economy. An international audit was also conducted by the World Bank on the rules of pooling cash reserves in the Moroccan central bank.
Abdel Salam Al Sediki, professor of economics at the Mohammed V University in Rabat, supported the bank director's assertion that Morocco's economic weakness will largely insulate it from the financial crisis.
"Our [financial] sector is still in its beginnings and its role is limited," he told Magharebia. "Banking institutions are governed by regulations because our economy is fragile."
The country is not immune to risk, however.
"Morocco shares several complex relations with international institutions," Al Sediki said. "The financial sector knows no nationality and binds countries via web-like interconnections."
As a result, the professor said, it is inevitable that growth rates will decline as 2010 and 2012 approach.
"In France, a country with a strong economy, growth will be nearly 1%. France is a country with which we share 60% of our trade. Thus, our economy is bound to be influenced."
Oxford Business Group (OBG), a UK institution specialising in economic research, stressed that the Moroccan financial sector is not affected by the turbulence in the international financial markets.
OBG maintained in a report recently published by Bank Al-Maghrib that the bank is pursuing efforts aimed at building more flexibility into the banking system, despite the global financial disorder that followed the outbreak of the international credit crisis.
source:http://magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2008/09/30/feature-01
The financial crisis affecting the United States and other major world markets has analysts concerned about the health of the Moroccan economy. Abdellatif Jouahri, Governor of Bank Al-Maghrib, Morocco's central bank, recently assured the public that Moroccan banks are not at risk, though the economy could be harmed by the broader economic slowdown triggered by overseas financial malaise.
Jouahri stressed at a press conference held Thursday (September 25th) in Casablanca that Morocco has not been affected by the global financial crisis that began in earnest with the bankruptcy of American financial services juggernaut Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. Morocco is not vulnerable to the global financial crisis, he said, because the nation's banking institutions cannot afford the kind of activities that caused the US collapse.
The Moroccan financial sector does not have assets in overseas banks facing difficulties, Jouahri said. Overseas assets held by Moroccan banks total just 31 billion dirhams, or 4% of total resources, which he said is an insignificant ratio.
The bank conducted an internal audit to assess the institution's vulnerability, Jouahri said, applying a "control and risk analysis strategy... hinging on the principle of self-assessment by units and their extent of risk."
He said that the bank has re-examined its code of ethics and precautionary rules to strengthen internal procedures in a more volatile international economy. An international audit was also conducted by the World Bank on the rules of pooling cash reserves in the Moroccan central bank.
Abdel Salam Al Sediki, professor of economics at the Mohammed V University in Rabat, supported the bank director's assertion that Morocco's economic weakness will largely insulate it from the financial crisis.
"Our [financial] sector is still in its beginnings and its role is limited," he told Magharebia. "Banking institutions are governed by regulations because our economy is fragile."
The country is not immune to risk, however.
"Morocco shares several complex relations with international institutions," Al Sediki said. "The financial sector knows no nationality and binds countries via web-like interconnections."
As a result, the professor said, it is inevitable that growth rates will decline as 2010 and 2012 approach.
"In France, a country with a strong economy, growth will be nearly 1%. France is a country with which we share 60% of our trade. Thus, our economy is bound to be influenced."
Oxford Business Group (OBG), a UK institution specialising in economic research, stressed that the Moroccan financial sector is not affected by the turbulence in the international financial markets.
OBG maintained in a report recently published by Bank Al-Maghrib that the bank is pursuing efforts aimed at building more flexibility into the banking system, despite the global financial disorder that followed the outbreak of the international credit crisis.
source:http://magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2008/09/30/feature-01