The Bank Al-Maghrib is currently in the process of developing a national strategy for financial inclusion, as a part of its 2010-2012 three-year strategic plan, with an early focus on financial education. The central bank is also responding to the national challenges of microfinance by providing support for the establishment of a formal credit bureau and acting to improve the regulatory framework though which MFI’s operate.

Bank Al-Maghrib was created in 1959 in substitution for the former “Banque d’Etat du Maroc”. Based in Rabat, the Bank comprises two subsidiaries and eighteen branches located across the Morocco. Bank Al-Maghrib holds reserves of foreign currency with an estimated worth of USD36 billion.

In addition to currency management, the Bank Al-Maghrib is responsible for the definition and conduct of monetary policy, with price stability as its core objective. The Bank is the financial advisor of the Government and the financial agent of the Treasury for its bank operations in Morocco and abroad. As such, Bank Al-Maghrib is actively involved in multilateral cooperation activities with international financial bodies including IMF, AMF and the World Bank.

In 2007 Morocco’s unbanked level was estimated to be 72 percent from a population of over 30 million. The GNI per capita stands at 4,600 USD with 15 percent living below the poverty line.