Foreign exchange reserves management

Foreign exchange reserves are the main foreign currencies held by a country to meet its currency requirements* intended mostly to finance imports and pay its foreign debts*.

Morocco receives foreign currency through tourism receipts*, transfers of Moroccans Residing Abroad, exports, foreign investments and external borrowings. These currencies are held by the government and by economic units*, particularly banks.

Regarding foreign reserves held by the government, Bank Al-Maghrib is in charge of holding, managing and growing them on behalf of the government, by ensuring their security and availability at all times.

Bank Al-Maghrib ensures that Morocco’s stock of foreign currency is sufficient for the government to repay its external debt* or for banks to have enough currency*, thus allowing, among other thing, their customers to pay their imports or finance their trips abroad.

Since 1996, when the foreign exchange market was liberalized, customers can go directly to banks, which have their own foreign reserves, and buy or sell currencies against Dirhams. Before that, they were forced to turn to Bank Al-Maghrib to perform their foreign exchange transactions.The Central Bank permanently displays the exchange rates* for the purchase or sale of foreign currency against the Dirham.