A mission led by a multidisciplinary team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) highlighted the practices of Bank Al-Maghrib (BAM) in terms of transparency.
This mission, of which Bank Al-Maghrib praises the expertise and the relevance of the recommendations, focused on the examination of the Bank’s practices in terms of transparency in five areas, relating to “Governance”, “Policies”, “Operations”, to the “Results” of the said policies, as well as to the “Institutional Relations” that it maintains with national and international organizations, indicates the Central Bank in a press release, published Monday on its internet portal.
A report by the said mission, available in English on the Central Bank’s web portal, concluded that Bank Al-Maghrib’s transparency practices, particularly in terms of monetary policy and financial stability, are “broad and comprehensive”, which allows it “to enjoy a significant confidence with its stakeholders met”, says the press release.
In addition, the mission highlighted the robustness of transparency practices relating to the Bank’s governance framework, adds the same source.
The recommendations, some of which have already been implemented, are part of the improvement dynamic and reinforce the results obtained during the self-assessment conducted by the Bank, indicates BAM, noting that they concern , in particular, the publication of additional information or explanations of an educational nature to improve understanding of those available on the Bank’s Internet portal, in particular on its legal status and its specificities, the exchange policy or the management foreign exchange reserves.
“A roadmap for the implementation of the said recommendations has been deployed and will be followed by the Bank’s management and administrative bodies”, specifies BAM.
And to emphasize that this review has enabled Bank Al-Maghrib, through the structured approach offered by the Central Banks Transparency Code (CTB), to further anchor its culture of transparency which, at present, is “fully integrated” into its operational processes.
Also, the Bank has decided to continue to strengthen the dynamics of improving its transparency framework by carrying out its exhaustive review on a regular basis, in line with its strategic cycle, notes the press release.
Aware that the imperative of transparency is one of the key components of accountability and good governance, Bank Al-Maghrib has included in its 2019-2023 strategic roadmap, a project to assess its transparency with reference to the BTC adopted by the IMF in July 2020, recalls the Central Bank.
To carry out this project, BAM initially carried out a self-assessment of the said framework before requesting a review by the IMF, underlines the same source, noting that the Bank is thus among the first central banks to participate, on a voluntary basis, in the pilot deployment of the BTC, reflecting its permanent desire to raise its governance system to the level of the best central bank standards and practices.
In addition, BAM specifies that the review work consisted of an in-depth documentary review and discussions with the members of the Bank’s Board and its management, as well as with representatives of its main stakeholders, namely Parliament, the Court of Auditors, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Moroccan Capital Market Authority, the Insurance and Social Welfare Control Authority, the Exchange Office, the Right of Access Commission information, the Moroccan Foundation for Financial Education, local banks, the Moroccan Economic Center, the banking mediator, academia and the media.