Rumours on Dirham devaluation groundless, ministry

No action on the change of the Moroccan currency exchange rate is slated, the finance ministry said denying the rumours ran by some media lately concerning a would-be devaluation of the Dirham.

A finance ministry communiqué, sent to the Moroccan News Agency (MAP), said "any speculation about the Dirham value is groundless and hence some attitudes triggered by the rumours are not justified."

"The situation of the foreign trade of our country, said the communiqué, has indeed weakened in the first four months of this year, owing to external reasons linked, notably to the hike of oil price and the reinforcement of the position of new actors in the European market," but this "does by no means need a devaluation of the dirham." The macroeconomic context is stable thanks to inflation checking and to a balance of payments current account surplus of the four previous years and to the level of external assets exceeding the public foreign debt, the communiqué said.

The foreign ministry also said the improvement of the country's economy competitiveness is a priority of the government action which aims at enhancing investment incentives and at modernising the production sector to face globalisation challenges.

It went on to say the government is considering the working out of an industrial policy to spur exports.