Morocco's central bank adjusts currency peg due to weaker euro
The euro's weakness against the US dollar triggered Morocco’s central bank to adjust the country’s dirham peg on Monday.
The central bank, Bank Al-Maghrib, changed the currency basket weightings it uses to set the dirham's exchange rate to 60% for the euro and 40% for the dollar, reducing the euro's weighting due to changes in trade. Previously, the central bank gave the euro a weighting of 80% and the dollar 20%.
It is the first change in Morocco's currency basket in a decade and follows an increase in trade with the US, China and the rest of Africa, and a fall in trade with the Eurozone.
It’s a “first step in the transition toward a more flexible exchange regime aimed at strengthening competitiveness of the country and resilience of its economy to external shocks,” said Bank Al-Maghrib said in a statement.