The Ministry of Economy and Finance presented the results of the work of the participatory banks since their creation until last June. It shows that the number of current accounts reached 166,345 accounts, representing 5.8 billion dirhams of deposits.
In response to a question from the parliamentary adviser of the National Union of Labor in Morocco (UNTM), Khalid Setti, the Ministry of Economy and Finance explained that the participatory banking sector had experienced, until last June, a important development, noting that the network of banks and participatory counters has reached the equivalent of 183 branches or points of sale covering the twelve regions of the Kingdom.
In his answer, of which MoroccoLatestNews holds a copy, the department of Nadia Fettah Alaoui indicated that the total investment deposits in the participatory banks amounted to two billion dirhams, while the financing by Murabaha reached 15.7 billion dirhams without calculating the profit margin, including 13.3 billion dirhams for real estate financing, 1.3 billion dirhams for car financing and 1.1 billion dirhams for equipment financing.
Also, the ministry specifies that the guarantee of participatory financing through the National Company of Guarantee and Financing of the Company (SNGFE) has benefited 752 files, since the start of the activity in July 2020.
According to the ministry’s response, “the years 2019 and 2020 were marked by work to complete the contractual framework for products“, while “the contract relating to unrestricted investment deposits was approved in March 2019 according to the opinions of the Superior Council of Ulemas“. As for the year 2022, the same source indicated that it was marked by the realization of structured and basic projects to achieve the desired objectives of participatory finance.
In addition, the ministry indicated that participatory banks have been created within the framework of partnerships between Moroccan banks and foreign partners (banks and international institutions specialized in participatory finance) in order to benefit from the experiences of leading countries in this field.
“The development of participatory finance in Morocco is part of the strategic orientations of the public authorities in order to strengthen financial inclusion and the sources of financing of the Moroccan economy, and to strengthen the country’s attractiveness in terms of foreign investment thanks to to various financial offers. It also contributes to strengthening the influence of the financial center of Casablanca as a regional financial center“, underlined the Ministry of the Economy.
Ultimately, the ministry indicated that the public authorities are working to adapt the financial system to help create a climate conducive to the development of this mechanism in appropriate circumstances, by revising a number of legal and regulatory texts, in particular the banking law, the law on securitization, the insurance code, and by harmonizing the tax framework in order to achieve the principle of tax neutrality, as well as accounting and prudential regulations, taking into account international practices and standards in this area, by in particular the standards of the Islamic Financial Services Council (IFSC) and the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions.