Bank credit increased by 2.8% in 2021, after an increase of 4.6% in 2020, according to the annual report of Bank Al-Maghrib (BAM) on the economic, monetary and financial situation.
“Despite the completion of the granting phase of the + Damane + and + Relance + products and after an increase of 4.6% in 2020, bank credit increased by 2.8% in 2021”specifies this report presented, Saturday at the Royal Palace of Rabat, to King Mohammed VI, by the Wali of BAM, Abdellatif Jouahri.
In fact, the maintenance of the accommodative stance of monetary policy has made it possible to support the financing of the economy in a context of the persistence of a high level of uncertainty in connection in particular with the evolution of the pandemic. the central bank. The increase in credit thus covers increases of 3.1%, after 4%, in loans to the non-financial sector and of 0.7%, instead of 7.8%, in loans to financial companies, adds the same source, noting that as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the outstanding amount of bank credit increased, from one year to the next, from 83.2% to 76.7% in relation essentially to the exceptional increase in the GDP.
By institutional sector, credit to private non-financial enterprises increased by 4.2%, the result of increases of 8.7% in cash facilities and 1.9% in equipment loans, and a 7.8% contraction in property development loans. Conversely, loans to public enterprises declined by 13.1%, covering a 29.2% contraction in loans for equipment and a 6% improvement in cash facilities, indicates BAM. Regarding loans to individuals, they increased by 4.7%, with in particular increases of 4.5% in housing loans and 2.9% in consumer loans.
As for credits intended for individual entrepreneurs, they fell by 0.6%, mainly in line with the accentuation of the drop from 12.8% to 14.9% in loans for real estate development. By branch of activity, significant increases were recorded for the “food and tobacco industries” with a rate of 9.8%, for “electricity, gas and water” with 10.4%, for “trade, automobile repairs and household goods” with 7.9% and for “agriculture and fishing” with 7.2%. On the other hand, assistance granted to companies in the “extractive industries” and “chemical and parachemical industries” sectors fell by 30.1% and 12% respectively.
Regarding non-performing loans, after the 14.7% expansion observed in 2020 in the context of the health crisis, they increased by 5.7%, their ratio to outstanding bank credit remained almost unchanged at 8 .6%, indicates BAM, explaining this virtual stability, despite the persistence of a high level of risk, by the normalization of 76.2% of the amount of loans having benefited from the moratorium put in place in 2020.
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