Abdellatif Jouahri, governor of Bank Al Maghrib. Credit: DR
The Wali of Bank Al-Maghrib (BAM), Abdellatif Jouahri, highlighted the crucial importance of preparing and supervising very small, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) before considering the transition to the new phase of the reform flexible exchange rate regime.
“Although several prerequisites are favorable such as a balanced budget and the level of foreign exchange reserves, economic operators, particularly SMEs, are not ready for this transition,” underlined Jouahri during a press briefing held at the end of the second quarterly meeting of the BAM Council for the year 2024.
In this sense, he explained that the transition to a flexible exchange rate regime involves frequent adjustments of the key rate of the central bank to defend the national currency, which will directly affect the interest rates applied by banks to SMEs and other customers.
These operators are not yet prepared to recalculate costs and adjust prices accordingly, which raises concerns about the potential impact on their competitiveness, he continued, noting that support policies are being strengthened to certain categories of businesses in order to facilitate this transition.
“It is crucial that economic operators are able to adapt to these changes,” he concluded.
