Morocco’s Central Bank calls for more vigilance vis-a-vis public debt

Morocco’s central bank has called for more vigilance concerning public debt to spare future generations the pain of structural reforms.

The statement was made by central bank governor Abdellatif Jouahri following a board meeting that kept the key interest rate unchanged at 2.25%.

He said the current rate remains appropriate and dismissed calls for a cut of the rate. “If lowering the rate could lead to boosting credit we could have done that.”

When asked about the next step in the Dirham liberalization, Jouahri said the bank wants to make sure that prerequisites are in place and that operators notably small and medium sized enterprises have fully absorbed the tools of the monetary policy.

The bank said inflation would drop to 0.4% in 2019 while growth would slow to 2.7% same year.