Morocco's hard currency reserves reach record us$ 8.14 billion

Morocco's central bank hard currency reserves reached by end of last October the record amount of 93.7 billion Dirhams (about US$ 8.14 billion).

The reserves were fueled by Moroccan expatriates' remittances, tourism returns, and foreign investments and private loans.

According to the latest figures released by the exchange office, expatriates remittances scored an increase of 50.3 percent as they amounted to 29.44 billion DH ($2.56 billion) compared to 19.59 billion DH a year before.

Tourism earned Morocco 22.96 billion DH ($1.99 billion) by the end of October compared to 19.59 billion DH ($1.70 billion) the previous year.

Returns of foreign investments and private loans amounted to 31.46 billion DH ($2.73 billion) by the end of October 2001 compared to only 5.47 billion DH ($475.65 million) by end of October 2000.

These flows enabled Bank Al-Maghrib to increase its hard currency reserves to the record level of 93.7 billion Dirhams (about US$ 8.14 billion). The amount can cover the equivalent of 11 months of imports. By the end of October 2000, the central bank's reserves were worth 52.65 billion DH ($4.57 billion), or the equivalent of 6 months of imports.