Highlights

Mr. Mohamed Benchaaboun presents the project of the National Strategy for Financial Inclusion to the government council

31/01/2019
Mr. Mohamed Benchaaboun presents the project of the National Strategy for Financial Inclusion to the government council

Mr. Mohamed Benchaaboun, Minister of Economy and Finance, stressed, Thursday, January 31st 2019 in Rabat, the interest of the Moroccan government in the reforms of the financial and banking sector, taking into account the role of this sector in mobilizing resources and financing various economic activities.

In his presentation to the Government Council on the project of the National Strategy for Financial Inclusion, Mr. BENCHAABOUN defined the significant efforts of the government to improve access to financial services. He referred, in this regard, to the improving access to banking services, the ongoing development of the microfinance sector, and the increasing access to finance for SMEs and low-income families.

In addition, the Minister stated a series of challenges that our country is facing in terms of access to financial services for some groups, particularly in rural areas, as well as women, youth and very small businesses.

Mr. BENCHAABOUN added that the efforts of his department and Bank Al-Maghrib have been strengthened to establish a national strategy for financial inclusion through a participatory approach aiming at harmonizing actions and defining the priorities, roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders, and thus strengthening financial inclusion and making of it an element of economic efficiency and social equity.

In this respect, the Minister presented the broad lines of the proposed strategy, based on the outcomes of a detailed analysis and discussions between the various stakeholders. This analysis focuses on four aspects, namely the acceleration of the development of alternative models of financial inclusion, in particular the development of mobile phone payment and the development of the role of microfinance institutions and inclusive insurance.

This strategy rely also on the promotion of "classical" models to increase financial inclusion by ensuring the appropriate conditions to speed up access to various banking services and the strengthening of risk management tools for vulnerable groups, developing a framework and tools to facilitate access for small businesses and individuals to finance.

This includes ensuring the conditions necessary to make greater use of financial products, through strengthening financial literacy and further digitizing payments to consolidate the culture of financial inclusion in households.

Within the framework of the effective implementation of the strategy, the Minister reported on the establishment of governance specific to this strategy, which includes the setting up of a National Council for Financial Inclusion to discuss and adopt the project of this strategy, as well as monitor the implementation of the different procedures.