Non-financial sector: bank credit growth rate to slow to 2.7% in 2023

By LeSiteinfo with MAP

The growth rate of bank credit to the non-financial sector (SNF) recorded a clear reduction to 2.7% in 2023, according to a recent annual report from Bank Al-Maghrib (BAM) on the economic, monetary and financial situation.

This slowdown comes after a jump of 7.9% in 2022, largely linked to the expansion of liquidity resources aimed at financing imports of energy and food products in the context of a significant increase in prices their international, shows BAM in this report.

On the other hand, the increase in loans to financial companies accelerated from 5.6% to 20.5% and overall, bank credit growth fell from 7.5% to 5.3%, specifying the same source.

Therefore, outstanding bank credit reached ​​1,114.9 billion dirhams (billion dirhams), or 76.2% of GDP instead of 79.6% a year earlier.

That report also reveals that data analysis by institutional sector shows that credit growth to the SNF was largely driven by loans granted to public enterprises which increased by 26.6% .

For private companies, the normalization of import prices and the depreciation of loans granted under the guarantee lines imposed during the pandemic crisis led to a decline of 8.4% in liquidity resources. Taking into account the 5.5% increase in equipment loans, loans to these private companies remained almost stagnant after an increase of 10.4% a year earlier.

Regarding loans intended for individuals, they recorded another acceleration with a limited increase of 2.1%. Suffering from the wait-and-see attitude regarding the direct housing support activity announced in the 2023 financial law, housing loans experienced a weak increase of 1.9%, notes BAM.

At the same time, after two years of moderate post-pandemic recovery, loans intended for consumption increased by only 0.6% in a context of high inflation and interest rates.