Outstanding bank credit reached 1,038.2 billion dirhams in the first quarter of 2023, up 5% annually, according to Morocco’s Bank Al-Maghrib (BAM).

In detail, the outstanding credit to non-financial agents amounted to 894.6 billion dirhams and that to financial agents to 143.5 billion dirhams, said the central bank in its dashboard “credits and bank deposits” for the month of March.

The 4.9% annual increase in loans to private non-financial companies (NFC) results mainly from the rise of 5.3% of cash facilities and the increase of 4.2% of equipment loans. On the other hand, the real estate loans showed a decline of 5.8%, the same source said.

BAM’s business survey indicates that access to finance, in Q1-2023 was considered “normal” by almost all manufacturers in all sectors except “textiles and leather” where 21% of companies described it as “difficult”. In addition, the cost of credit has stagnated according to 65% of companies and increased according to 34% of them.

According to the Q4-2022 survey on credit conditions, criteria have been relaxed for cash facilities, kept unchanged for equipment loans and tightened for real estate development loans.

Source: Agency Morocaine De Presse