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At the end of the March 12-18 week, Bank Al Maghrib's net foreign assets increased by MAD 517 million, standing at MAD 188.2 billion, that is MAD 7.3 billion above the level registered at the end of December 2008.


# Exchange rates

During the same week, the dirham fell 0.76% against the euro and it appreciated 3.42% against the dollar.

# BAM injects MAD 14 billion


During the week (March 12-18), Morocco's central bank, Bank Al Maghrib, injected MAD 14 billion, through a 7-day advance call for tenders with a rate 3.50%. It injected MAD 6 billion last week.

For its part, the average interest rate in the inter-bank market went up, in one week, from 3.56% to 3.71%. The average exchange volume in this respect stood at MAD 1.4 billion, a fall of MAD 2 billion compared to the previous week.

# Inflation goes up


Inflation increased 0.4% in February 2009, following a drop of 0.5% in January. This development was the result of a rise in the prices of some fresh products, mainly vegetables (18.0%), fruit (3.1%) and fish (0.5%).

Concerning underlying inflation, it notched down 0.7%, compared to the rise of 0.1% in the previous month.

# MASI index falls


At the end of the March 12-18 period, Casablanca stock market's MASI index fell 0.72% compared to the previous week. Concerning the volume of transactions, the daily average dropped to MAD 428.82 million, against 757.95 billion a week earlier.

# Trade deficit shrinks 18.9%


At the end of January 2009, the trade deficit stood at MAD 10.3 billion, shrinking 18.9% compared to the same period last year. The coverage rate also went down to 45.1%, instead of 46.9% a year earlier.

Imports, which stood at MAD 18.7 billion, fell 21.6% or MAD 5.1 billion, while exports reached MAD 8.4 billion.

# MRE transfers go down


At the end of the year, the transfers made by the Moroccans living abroad (MRE) dropped 14.2%, as they did not exceed 3.8 billion. Travel receipts also fell 20%, to stand at MAD 3.5 billion.

Receipts of foreign investments and loans, for their part, recorded MAD 1.8 billion, while the expenses reached MAD 607 million, that is to say a net income of MAD 1.2 billion, against 3.1 billion last year.


Bank Al Maghrib's foreign assets increase