Morocco, second largest microcredit market in Arab World -AMF

Morocco ranked second in the Arab world in terms of credit portfolio granted by microcredit associations by the end of 2020, according to the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF).

The outstanding total of these credits amounted to $760 million at the end of the past year, the AMF said in its annual report on financial stability in Arab countries for 2021.

Egypt ranked first with an outstanding amount of $1.23 billion.

According to the AMF report, the Kingdom is also second in the Arab world in terms of active clients of microcredit associations with 910,000 clients, against 3.2 million active clients in Egypt.

“The micro-credit sector is a major player in financial inclusion in Morocco, providing services to economically vulnerable categories, especially those who have difficulty dealing with banks,” the report said, recalling that micro-credit associations are subject to the control of the central bank, Bank Al-Maghrib.

The credit portfolio granted by micro-credit associations in the Arab world increased by 6.3% in 2020, reaching 3.4 billion dollars, while the average outstanding credit per client amounted to 1,308 dollars, the report said.