The government council, held on Thursday, adopted Bill 40-17 on the status of Bank Al Maghrib, presented by the Minister of Economy and Finance. This project is devoted to redesigning the status of Bank Al Maghrib through the expansion of its missions contributing to the prevention of systemic risk and strengthening financial stability and to adapt its instruments of intervention to this mission, The Deputy Minister for Relations with Parliament and Civil Society, government spokesman Mustapha El Khalfi, said in a statement at the end of the council. The article which part of the endeavors made to develop the judicial and institutional environment of banks by applying bill number 76-03 under which the central bank is operating since 2006, will give the institution an autonomous status by giving it the power to define the objective of price stability. The latter is a primary goal targeting the conduct an independent monetary policy, El Khalfi added. Given the interaction between monetary policy and exchange rate policy and in order to comply with international best practice, the project specifies that Bank Al Maghrib implements exchange rate policy under the exchange rate regime and its guidelines set by the Minister in charge of finance after advice from the bank. In this context, the bank was also allowed to use foreign exchange reserves for the purpose of defending or preserving the value of the dirham in the event of a flexible exchange rate regime.
