Morocco’s banking liquidity deficit fell in the week ending 25 June as the central bank increased the amount of short term funding it gave to banks, according to BMCE Capital Global Research.
The average liquidity deficit dropped by 5.97% to 147.2bn dirhams between 18 and 25 June. During the same period, Bank Al Maghrib increased its seven-day advances by 10.11bn dirhams to 53.9bn dirhams.
The average interbank lending rate stayed at 2.25%, while the MONIA overnight rate fell to 2.139% on 24 June. Treasury deposits also fell, with the highest daily balance dropping to 24.9bn dirhams from 33.4bn dirhams a week earlier.
The government also continued to borrow carefully on the Treasury bond market. At its latest auction, it raised 660m dirhams, or 35% of the 1.9bn dirhams it offered. It sold 52-week and two-year Treasury bills at rates of 2.2635% and 2.4257%.
BMCE Capital Global Research said the auction “confirms the Treasury’s focus on short and medium term maturities.” It added that there was “almost no change in primary market yields,” with the 52-week yield falling by 0.5 basis points and the two-year yield by 0.4 basis points.
On the secondary bond market, most yields fell. The biggest drops were on five-year, 10-year, two-year and 52-week bonds, which fell by 7.11, 6.28, 3.96 and 3.41 basis points, respectively. However, yields on 20-year and 30-year bonds rose by 3.99 and 2.96 basis points.
Several companies also raised money through debt issues during the week. BMCI and Saham Bank issued one-year certificates of deposit with interest rates between 2.35% and 3.00%. Salafin issued two-year financing notes at 2.90%.
OCP SA also issued bonds with interest rates of 2.87%, 3.64%, 4.18% and 4.82%, while Crédit Immobilier et Hôtelier issued bonds at 4.49%.
Looking ahead, BMCE Capital Global Research expects Bank Al Maghrib to increase its seven-day advances to 61.6bn dirhams from 53.9bn dirhams. It also expects the bond market to remain cautious in the short term after the central bank kept its key interest rate unchanged.
