Morocco's central bank keeps key rate at 2.75%
Adds details on Societe Generale unit sale and sovereign bond issue
By Ahmed Eljechtimi
RABAT, Sept 24 (Reuters) -Morocco's central bank on Tuesday left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 2.75%, saying borrowing costs were consistent with the financial and economic outlook.
Morocco's economic growth would drop to 2.8% this year, from 3.4% last year, due to drought, the bank said in a statement after its quarterly board meeting.
The bank added that it expects growth to accelerate to 4.4% next year, assuming an average cereals harvest.
Inflation would slow to 1.3% this year from 6.1% in 2023, before up ticking to 2.2% in 2025, following a drop in volatile food prices.
These figures remain shrouded in "high uncertainty," due to recurring droughts and the impact of conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East on energy prices, the bank said.
An increase in car exports, tourism receipts and remittances of Moroccans abroad would keep foreign exchange reserves at 384.3 billion dirhams, or $40 billion, in 2024 and $41 billion in 2025, enough to cover 5.5 months of import needs.
High tax receipts are expected to shrink the fiscal deficit to 3.9% of GDP in 2025, from a forecast 4.4% this year, the bank said.
The treasury was waiting for a further decrease in interest rates before issuing an international bond, central bank governor Abdellatif Jouahri told reporters later in the day, without giving details on the currency or the timing of the issue.
The central bank expects to give "before year's end" an approval of the take over by Moroccan conglomerate Saham group of Société Générale Marocaine de Banques, the fourth largest bank in the country.
In April, France's Societe Generale (SOGN.PA) agreed the sale of the bank and its insurance business in Morocco La Marocaine Vie to Saham Group for 745 million euros, as part of a wider divestment strategy.
Reporting by Ahmed Eljechtimi
Editing by David Goodman, Peter Graff, Alexandra Hudson
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