Morocco's hard currency reserves up

Morocco's reserves of hard currency increased by 17.2% by the end of August 2003, in comparison with the beginning of the year, according to the exchange office's latest figures.

Reserves of the Central Bank "Bank Al Maghrib" are estimated at some 122.43 billion dirhams. (nearly 12 billion), which represents the equivalent of 13 months of imports, compared to 12 months of imports in August 2002.

In the same period, receipts of investments and foreign private loans reached 14.65 billion DH (about US$ 1.5 billion), 10.2 billion DH more than in last year. Compared to the annual average recorded in the 1998-2002 period (11.6 billion DH or US$ 1.2 billion), the amount of foreign investments and private loans marks a 26.3% rise.