Finance in Morocco
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In 2007, the financial sector of Morocco maintained an economic environment conducive to further growth of banking activity following a very good year for the sector in 2006. Morocco's banks have been largely unaffected by the credit crisis due to their limited connection to global financial markets. The number of people with a bank account increased from 25% in 2007 to 29% in 2008, while deposits rose by 11.1% to a record Dh572.3bn (€51.5bn), 20% of which belong to Moroccan nationals living abroad.[1] Private banks are increasingly moving towards universal banking, buying companies in all segments of the financial industry. While GDP advanced 5.6% in 2008, outstanding loans jumped 23% to a record Dh519.3bn (€46.74bn) as more people bought and furnished property. As the rest of the world saw lending dry up, Moroccan banks issued more loans, showing 2.6% growth in the first five months of 2009.[1]
Morocco has also made progress in financial inclusion. According to the World Bank's financial inclusion database, Global Findex 2021, the percent of adults with an account at a financial institution or through a mobile money provider went from 29% in 2017 to 44% in 2021.
In 2007, macroeconomic growth, excluding the agricultural sector, remained quite robust, providing the background for dynamic growth in banking credits. Total assets of the banking sector increased by 21.6% to MAD 654.7bn ($85.1bn), which is above the previous year's high annual growth rate of 18.1%. The structure of the domestic sector has remained steady in the past two years, with the landscape dominated by three major local banks. The state has started to remove itself from the domestic sector by surrendering part of its share capital in public banks. At end-2007 public capital still held controlling stakes in five banks and four financing companies. Meanwhile, foreign ownership in the local financial sector continues to grow, with foreign institutions controlling five banks and eight financing companies as well as holding significant stakes in four banks and three financing companies. The introduction of additional Islamic banking products is also likely in the future.[citation needed]
The financial system, though robust, has to take on excessive quantities of low risk-low return government debt at the expense of riskier, but more productive private sector lending. This crowding–out of private sector investment reduces the profitability and growth incentives of the financial sector.
Fitch Ratings affirmed Morocco's long-term local and foreign issuer default ratings of "BBB−" and "BBB", respectively, with a stable outlook. The credit rating agency attributed its classification in part to the "relative resilience of Morocco's economy to the global economic downturn."[2]
Insurance
The insurance sector in Morocco is witnessing dynamic growth, driven foremost by developments in life insurance, which has superseded motor insurance in the past two years as the leading segment of the market with around one-third of total premiums. Behind life and auto insurance, accident, work-related accident, fire and transport insurance were the largest contributors. Total premiums reached Dh17.7bn ($2.3bn) in 2007, ranking Morocco as one of the largest insurance markets in the Arab world behind Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.[citation needed] The insurance penetration rate is 2.87% of GDP, while the insurance density is $69 per person. More broadly, the Moroccan insurance sector is already consolidated, with five large players controlling the market. The sector is set to be opened up to foreign competition from 2010 onward, and the consolidation of insurance companies into larger entities should strengthen the local players to better compete with eventual competition from foreign insurers. There is also the possibility that new insurance niches such as takaful (Islamic insurance) and microinsurance products will become part of the Moroccan market in the medium-term, but they are unlikely to appear in the near future.
