Morocco to float Dirham by the end of June

Morocco will start floating the Dirham by the end of June. The information was announced by the Central bank's governor, Abdellatif Jouahri, who told Reuters on Tuesday that Morocco is working on the liberalization of its currency's exchange rate regime.

«We will begin the first phase of liberalizing the Dirham in the second quarter», Jouahri declared at the Arab Finance Ministers meeting held in Rabat. «I can’t tell how long the duration of each phase will take, it depends on the market», the head of the central bank added.

The Moroccan government said last year that the second half of 2017 will witness the move to a flexible exchange rate regime. Mohammed Boussaid Minister of Finance who also attended the Tuesday meeting, reminded the audience that the Kingdom will start the floating of the currency on the second semester of the current year, but that «if the Central bank has decided to proceed differently, it is actually suitable due to the Dirham's high value».

According to him, delays in the implementation of the monetary reforms could result in a higher inflation, which would in term lead to harsh conditions akin to the situation in Egypt after its currency weakened dramatically last year.