Morocco Experiences Slowdown in Growth of Bank Loans

A general view of the Central Bank of Morocco in Rabat. Reuters
A general view of the Central Bank of Morocco in Rabat. Reuters
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Morocco Experiences Slowdown in Growth of Bank Loans

A general view of the Central Bank of Morocco in Rabat. Reuters
A general view of the Central Bank of Morocco in Rabat. Reuters

Bank lending showed year-on-year growth of 4.5 percent in December 2020 compared to 5.2 percent in November 2020, with an increase in loans to the non-financial sector of 3.9 percent, according to Bank Al-Maghrib (BAM).

“This change reflects the slowdown in the growth of loans to private non-financial corporations from six percent to 4.7 percent and to public non-financial corporations at 0.5 percent, following a +4.4 percent compared to the previous month, BAM explained in its memo on key indicators of monetary statistics for December 2020.

It further highlighted the acceleration in the growth of loans to households from 2.7 percent to 3.4 percent.

The distribution of loans granted to non-financial sector according to the economic purpose indicates a continuous decline in consumer loans from 3.3 percent to 4.2 percent, an acceleration in the growth of loans to real estate by 2.1 percent to 2.5 percent and a decrease in equipment loans of three percent after +1.5 percent.

Meanwhile, the monetary aggregate (M3), which represents the money supply, recorded an annual growth of 8.5 percent in December 2020 compared to 7.7 percent in November 2020, BAM noted in its latest monetary statistics.

This development reflects the increase in the growth of demand deposits at banks to 10.6 percent, the further decrease in term accounts from 12.9 percent to 9.6 percent and the deceleration in the growth of currency in circulation from 20.6 percent to 20.1 percent.

Year-on-year, the M3 increased in December by 2.7 percent to amount to1,486.8 billion dirhams, mainly reflecting the four percent increase in sight deposits with banks and 1.7 percent in accounts term, BAM said.

On the other hand, the evolution of M3 is mainly attributable to the increase in bank credit of 2.1 percent and that of official reserve assets of 9.9 percent, the bank noted.



Gold Climbs as Traders Position for Powell's Speech

A jeweller shows a gold bar at his shop in downtown Kuwait City on May 20, 2024. (Photo by YASSER AL-ZAYYAT / AFP)
A jeweller shows a gold bar at his shop in downtown Kuwait City on May 20, 2024. (Photo by YASSER AL-ZAYYAT / AFP)
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Gold Climbs as Traders Position for Powell's Speech

A jeweller shows a gold bar at his shop in downtown Kuwait City on May 20, 2024. (Photo by YASSER AL-ZAYYAT / AFP)
A jeweller shows a gold bar at his shop in downtown Kuwait City on May 20, 2024. (Photo by YASSER AL-ZAYYAT / AFP)

Gold prices gained on Friday as investors positioned themselves for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech that could shed more light on a potential US September interest rate cut.

Spot gold rose 0.7% to $2,500.83 per ounce by 1219 GMT, after hitting a record high of $2,531.60 on Tuesday. US gold futures gained 0.8% to $2,536.50.

Bullion fell more than 1% in the previous session, setting it on course for a 0.3% weekly decline, pressured by a rebound in the dollar and higher Treasury yields, Reuters reported.

"I think it's position-taking ahead of the expected rate cut, which I think is now looking like almost a certainty in September," said independent analyst Ross Norman.

Traders are expecting a 74% chance of a 25 basis points cut in September, while 26% expect a deeper 50 bps cut. Gold tends to thrive in a low interest rate environment as it yields no interest by itself.

"If Powell now hints at stronger interest rate cuts as a result, we could see new record highs for gold," Commerzbank said in a note.

"Given that the market has already priced in Fed rate cuts of around 100 basis points by the end of the year, the bar for a dovish surprise is likely to be set quite high."

Powell is expected to deliver speech at the annual central banking conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming at 1400 GMT.

Meanwhile, India's silver imports are on course to nearly double this year due to rising demand from solar panel and electronics makers and as investors bet the metal will give better returns than gold, leading importers said on Friday.

Spot silver rose nearly 1.5% to $29.41 per ounce and was up 1.3% for the week.

Platinum gained 0.3% to $946.35 and palladium steadied at $933.71. Both metals were on track for a weekly decline.