Morocco - Qatar weigh joint Islamic bank creation

Morocco and Qatar are considering the creation of a joint bank that would operate under the Islamic banking system, said vice-chairman of the administrative council of Qatar's International Islamic Bank, Cheikh Khalid Al Thani.

In an interview published Thursday by the daily in French, Aujourd'hui le Maroc, Cheikh Khalid Al Thani said he discussed the project at a meeting in Rabat Monday with Moroccan minister of finance and privatization, Fathallah Oulaalou, who "was very interested."

The bank will sponsor all kinds of projects but its favorite area will be housing loans, the executive said, adding that a Moroccan delegation, including mainly Oulaalou, and governor of Bank Al Maghrib (Morocco's central bank), Abderrahim Jouahri, were invited in Doha to discuss the project with the Qatari Central bank. The visit will take place on the sidelines of an encounter to be organized by the IMF and the World Bank end of September.

"The creation of the Moroccan-Qatari Islamic Bank will be a great success and open to all Moroccans, Cheikh Khalid Al Thani said.