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Morocco’s Bank Profits Exceeded $1.1 Bn by End of September

Man carrying Moroccan dirhams and US dollars (File photo: Reuters)
Man carrying Moroccan dirhams and US dollars (File photo: Reuters)
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Morocco’s Bank Profits Exceeded $1.1 Bn by End of September

Man carrying Moroccan dirhams and US dollars (File photo: Reuters)
Man carrying Moroccan dirhams and US dollars (File photo: Reuters)

The profits of eight main Moroccan banks reached $1.1 billion at the end of September, a 0.96 percent increase compared to the same period last year, while the total net banking income increased 6.6 percent to reach $5.62 billion, according to financial data released by Moroccan banks for the third quarter of 2019.

The performance of the eight banks had uneven profit growth during this period. The net profits of the Moroccan Bank of Foreign Commerce (BMCE) decreased 16.7 percent, and CIH Bank S.A. dropped 28.6 percent.

The net profits of the rest of the banks varied between 2.17 percent for the Morocco Bank of Commerce and Industry (BMCI), and 29.41 percent for Credit Agricole Group of Morocco.

Meanwhile, the profits of the two largest Moroccan banks, Attijariwafa bank and Banque Populaire of Morocco (GBP), both increased 4.76 percent, while those of Societe Generale grew 6.27 percent.

During this period, the banks strengthened their capital in the context of the gradual implementation of the new precautionary measures for the banking sector.

The capital of the eight Moroccan banks at the end of September was $16.7 billion, an increase of 6.33 percent compared to the same period last year.

The capital of the Banque Populaire of Morocco saw the largest increase with about 9.95 percent, and BMCE’s capital rose during this period about 8.4 percent. As for CIH Bank S.A, its capital rose 7.03 percent, preceding Credit Agricole Group of Morocco which had a 6.27 percent growth. Attijariwafa bank and Banque Populaire of Morocco (GBP) came in last with 5.77 percent and 4.02 percent respectively.

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ECB's Lagarde Renews Integration Call as Trade War Looms

FILE PHOTO: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Governor of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn arrive at the non-monetary policy meeting of the ECB's Governing Council in Inari, Finnish Lapland, Finland February 22, 2023. Lehtikuva/Tarmo Lehtosalo via REUTERS//File Photo
FILE PHOTO: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Governor of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn arrive at the non-monetary policy meeting of the ECB's Governing Council in Inari, Finnish Lapland, Finland February 22, 2023. Lehtikuva/Tarmo Lehtosalo via REUTERS//File Photo
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ECB's Lagarde Renews Integration Call as Trade War Looms

FILE PHOTO: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Governor of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn arrive at the non-monetary policy meeting of the ECB's Governing Council in Inari, Finnish Lapland, Finland February 22, 2023. Lehtikuva/Tarmo Lehtosalo via REUTERS//File Photo
FILE PHOTO: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Governor of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn arrive at the non-monetary policy meeting of the ECB's Governing Council in Inari, Finnish Lapland, Finland February 22, 2023. Lehtikuva/Tarmo Lehtosalo via REUTERS//File Photo

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde renewed her call for economic integration across Europe on Friday, arguing that intensifying global trade tensions and a growing technology gap with the United States create fresh urgency for action.
US President-elect Donald Trump has promised to impose tariffs on most if not all imports and said Europe would pay a heavy price for having run a large trade surplus with the US for decades.
"The geopolitical environment has also become less favorable, with growing threats to free trade from all corners of the world," Lagarde said in a speech, without directly referring to Trump.
"The urgency to integrate our capital markets has risen."
While Europe has made some progress, EU members tend to water down most proposals to protect vested national interests to the detriment of the bloc as a whole, Reuters quoted Lagarde as saying.
But this is taking hundreds of billions if not trillions of euros out of the economy as households are holding 11.5 trillion euros in cash and deposits, and much of this is not making its way to the firms that need the funding.
"If EU households were to align their deposit-to-financial assets ratio with that of US households, a stock of up to 8 trillion euros could be redirected into long-term, market-based investments – or a flow of around 350 billion euros annually," Lagarde said.
When the cash actually enters the capital market, it often stays within national borders or leaves for the US in hope of better returns, Lagarde added.
Europe therefore needs to reduce the cost of investing in capital markets and must make the regulatory regime easier for cash to flow to places where it is needed the most.
A solution might be to create an EU-wide regulatory regime on top of the 27 national rules and certain issuers could then opt into this framework.
"To bypass the cumbersome process of regulatory harmonization, we could envisage a 28th regime for issuers of securities," Lagarde said. "They would benefit from a unified corporate and securities law, facilitating cross-border placement, holding and settlement."
Still, that would not solve the problem that few innovative companies set up shop in Europe, partly due to the lack of funding. So Europe must make it easier for investment to flow into venture capital and for banks to fund startups, she said.