The recent changes in the world economy have led most countries to seek growth and development for their economies through international trade. These changes, which have also affected economic doctrine, have shown, particularly for developing countries, that, in an increasingly globalized economy, growth cannot result from inward-oriented policies. The need to integrate domestic economies in the global world economy and to remove all restrictions to international trade in goods and services has moved to the forefront of present concerns a notion virtually forgotten in the economic literature: currency convertibility.
Currency convertibility, in an environment where restrictions are becoming increasingly inoperable and ineffective, is now a vital issue in managing economic relations with the rest of the world for both the formerly planned economies and the developing economies; all are concerned with increasing and diversifying their foreign trade. In both cases, many questions arise: How can currency convertibility be achieved? What is the first step? In what coherent economic policy framework should this effort be situated? Morocco’s experience can offer certain enlightening lessons in this connection.
Morocco’s experience with convertibility is actually quite recent; it accepted the obligations of Article VIII of the IMF’s Articles of Agreement in January 1993. It provides a very interesting case of a country that moved to convertibility under specific economic conditions. The Moroccan experience is an example of a non-oil developing economy, facing an external debt-financing constraint, as do most developing countries. It can be traced back to the structural adjustment programs that embodied its liberal choices in re-establishing domestic and external equilibria.
To present the Moroccan experience, the following approach will be taken. Following a brief overview of different definitions for convertibility, the origin and development of exchange controls in Morocco are reviewed first, focusing on the role they played during the 1960s and 1970s. Second, the reasons underlying the liberalization process are examined, notably the extent of the domestic and external disequilibria that emerged during 1981–82. Third, the current status of exchange controls is examined, then the results of the liberalization efforts with respect to Morocco’s external transactions.
Definitions of Convertibility
In the Moroccan case, convertibility has always been defined as unrestricted access to foreign exchange reserves in order to obtain the foreign exchange required to settle transactions with foreign entities. This definition reflects the situation of developing countries that would like to give their economic agents sufficient freedom to enter into international transactions, without intending to hold their currency up as an international exchange standard.
In addition, several categories of convertibility can be identified according to the limits set for obtaining foreign exchange: full and unlimited convertibility, domestic and external convertibility, and convertibility for capital and current account operations. The latter form of convertibility, which is adopted by the IMF’s Articles of Agreement, is considered as providing a minimum degree of convertibility. According to the authors of the Bretton Woods agreements, multilateral trade could not develop without a sound international monetary system. Such a system cannot exist, however, unless its participant countries have currency convertibility. The issue, therefore, was to establish a lowest common denominator for convertibility. Accordingly, under Article VIII each member is bound by the following general obligations, inter alia: (1) avoidance of restrictions on current account payments, (2) avoidance of discriminatory currency practices, and (3) convertibility of foreign-held balances. The third obligation means that each member shall buy its own currency held by another member if the latter requests the purchase. It entails a number of conditions (cases involving scarce currency, and so forth), and seems to be decreasingly relevant, although it still appears in the Articles of Agreement.
The first two obligations embody in essence the concept of convertibility according to the IMF. In fact, currency convertibility exists from the time all restrictions are removed from payments on current account transactions and there is no discrimination in external transactions.
Regarding convertibility pursuant to Article VIII, two specific characteristics can be observed: convertibility pursuant to Article VIII is a limited form of convertibility, since its scope of application does not extend beyond current account transactions. In addition, such convertibility is placed within the context of exchange controls, as it constitutes a phase in the liberalization process.
Origin and Evolution of Exchange Controls
Exchange controls were instituted in Morocco as the result of externally imposed circumstances. Exchange controls were in fact established in 1939 by France, as a colonial power, in preparation for its war effort. They applied only to relations with countries outside of the franc area. The purpose was to promote the Moroccan economy’s integration into Metropolitan France’s economic systems. The aim was not protectionist; on the contrary, it was exclusivity, which also happened to be at odds with Morocco’s own interests. The 1939 measures indeed appeared to be the result of a process that France had undertaken since the protectorate system began, with a view to turning the open-door system imposed on Morocco to its own advantage. This system had originally placed all western nations on an equal footing in their economic, commercial, and financial relations with Morocco.
In the aftermath of its independence, Morocco recovered its authority over exchange controls to use them as an instrument to promote development. It started by applying exchange controls to all countries across the board, including those in the franc area. Through exchange controls, Morocco was able to stem the capital flight that followed its independence, protect nascent industrial activities, and preserve its external equilibria and the value of its currency, while fostering development of a substantial financial sector. Thus, during the 1960s and 1970s, exchange controls took on a restrictive nature, in the form of restrictions on commercial transactions, service transactions, and capital transfers.
The process of dismantling these restrictions began under the expansionist policies pursued during the period 1974–77. These policies made it possible to achieve substantial economic growth objectives, but it had adverse effects on domestic and external imbalances.
(1) The ratio of exports to imports fell from almost 90 percent in 1974 to 40 percent in 1977. At the same time, the trade deficit more than doubled between 1975 and 1977 from DH 4.1 billion to DH 8.5 billion. Imports nearly doubled from DH 8.3 billion to DH 14.4 billion between 1974 and 1977, while exports declined from DH 7.4 billion to DH 5.8 billion during the same period.
(2) The external current account deficit exceeded DH 8 billion in 1977, nearly 17 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).
(3) The external public debt, which stood at only 22 percent of GDP in 1973, rose to 34 percent in 1977.
The worsening of external imbalances was accompanied by a serious deterioration in the monetary, financial, and budgetary disequilibria. Faced with this situation, the government launched a three-year plan covering the period 1978–80 with a view to restoring the economy’s fundamental equilibria and growth momentum. Restrictive measures were implemented under this plan, particularly as regards the exchange system: (1) restrictions were placed on imports by establishing lists of products whose import was subject to a priori authorization and instituting advance deposits for imports; (2) restrictions were applied to services, such as travel abroad and technical assistance; and (3) restrictions on capital transfers were not only maintained but also increased. At the same time, measures introduced to attract foreign investment and promote exports had a limited effect as a priori administrative controls were maintained.
Regarding the results, the restrictions, far from helping to restore economic stability and promote economic growth, instead worsened the imbalances and stifled the Moroccan economy, which could not regain any growth momentum under these conditions. Thus, the restrictive exchange controls maintained until 1982 led to the following.
(1) A trade deficit that increased by 60 percent between 1977 and 1982, rising from DH 8.5 billion to DH 13.6 billion. Similarly, there was little improvement in the ratio of exports to imports, which rose from 40.7 percent in 1977 to 47.9 percent in 1982, considering that 57 percent of the imports in 1982 came from the list of products subject to prior authorization and only 42.3 percent from the list of products that could be freely imported.
(2) An increase in the current account deficit from DH 8.2 billion in 1977, or 16.5 percent of GDP, to DH 11.4 billion in 1982, or 12.3 percent of GDP. The current account deficit thus remained substantial despite all of the restrictions that were applied.
(3) A reduction in the central bank’s foreign exchange reserves, which fell from to DH 1.8 billion at the end of 1977 to DH 743,000 at the end of 1982, representing just under ten days of imports.
It was, therefore, becoming increasingly evident that the restrictions were not effective in dealing with the external imbalances: imports, composed primarily of energy and food products, could not be further reduced, and export growth remained sluggish. Real growth was still constrained by various restrictions and by (1) an increased debt burden, as the result of the rise in interest rates and the exchange rate for the U.S. dollar following the second oil crisis, and (2) poor weather. Accordingly, the Moroccan economy achieved only fairly modest growth rates. Real GDP grew at an average annual rate of 3.2 percent between 1978 and 1982, and even declined in 1981.
Accordingly, it was decided in 1983 under the structural adjustment programs that new economic policy options—based on liberalizing and opening up the Moroccan economy—should be adopted. To this end, a considerable effort to liberalize exchange controls was initiated in 1983, paving the way for the establishment of the convertibility of the dirham in January 1993. The process of liberalizing exchange controls was undertaken in the context of the structural adjustment programs, which also aimed at liberalizing other areas of the Moroccan economy, such as the tariff system, foreign trade, prices, and credit.
Morocco chose a gradual approach for liberalizing exchange controls for two basic reasons. The first related to the banking system’s ability to adapt to the new tasks it would be required to perform. Indeed, one of the main liberalization measures involved the elimination of prior authorization for foreign exchange operations and the delegation to banking institutions of the authority to execute such operations on an unrestricted basis. The liberalization aimed at enabling authorized intermediaries to adapt progressively to their new tasks. The second reflected the concern that eliminating protective measures and aligning the domestic economic and financial systems with the international ones should not be enacted so suddenly as to risk jeopardizing the fabric of the domestic economic system. Accordingly, a gradual and phased approach was required.
In the final analysis, Morocco’s acceptance of the obligations under Article VIII and the institution of the convertibility of the dirham stem from Morocco’s belief that exchange restrictions can neither restore nor preserve an economy’s fundamental equilibria, nor ensure the maintenance of a satisfactory growth rate, particularly in view of the growing globalization of the world economy, which is making economies interdependent and linking an economy’s growth rate with those of its partners. Thus, it is becoming increasingly obvious that the multilateralization of trade and the removal of restrictions to international flows of goods, services, and capital are important sources of growth for all countries.
Current Status of Exchange Controls
Establishing convertibility involves providing unrestricted access to operators of foreign exchange reserves with a view to settling their foreign exchange transactions. Accordingly, settlements for operations benefiting from convertibility can take place freely with banks authorized to carry out such operations, without any prior administrative formalities. Nonetheless, to avoid any potential abuse of the system, two conditions are required for the execution of such settlements.
(1) Operations must be carried out through the intermediary of banking institutions. In practice, the settlement system between Morocco and foreign entities is based on a foreign exchange fund centralized within the central bank, where foreign exchange drawings and transfers must be made. This principle, however, is becoming outmoded with the recent establishment of an interbank foreign exchange market and the widening of the scope of foreign currency accounts for exporters and Moroccan citizens living abroad.
(2) Supporting documentation must be presented for each foreign exchange operation. Indeed, under exchange control regulations, the supporting documents to be presented for each payment order abroad are specified. They include invoices, statements, contracts, import certificates, and shipping documents for goods going to Morocco. These documents, which specify the type of operation and consequently the pertinent measures, also enable the bank executing the settlement to verify that the transaction is actually carried out. The documentation, however, does not apply to the obtainment of certain bank note allowances for travel abroad.
Let me, now, examine the transactions that have benefited from the liberalization of exchange restrictions.
Current Account Operations
Commercial transactions head the list of current account operations. Imports of goods are not subject to any exchange restrictions. Even when prior authorization to import a product is required from the department responsible for foreign trade, this authorization cannot be interpreted as a foreign exchange restriction. It is actually a foreign trade restriction, because, as far as settlement is concerned, there are no payment obstacles applicable to duly established import certificates. In addition, ancillary import fees are paid freely through the intermediary of banks, and import insurance for certain goods can be obtained abroad.
Exports of goods and services benefit from a completely liberalized regime and are not subject to any prior formalities by the Foreign Exchange Office. Exporters are required, however, to repatriate export proceeds. Failure to do so would constitute the establishment of assets abroad, corresponding to a capital account operation. Expenses related to export promotion (business travel, trade shows, fairs, advertising, and so on) can be freely transferred by debiting convertible accounts or foreign exchange accounts, which are generally credited with 20 percent of the foreign exchange repatriated for exports of goods and with 10 percent for exports of services. International transportation operations, by sea or land, or any ancillary fees, can be discharged freely and the related charges can be paid directly through banks.
As regards air transport, foreign companies established in Morocco may freely transfer the net revenue resulting from the sale of travel tickets and collection of freight charges, less locally incurred expenditure. It should be pointed out in this connection that the issuance of transportation tickets is not subject to any restriction. For insurance, the authority to transfer to nonresidents in unlimited amounts indemnities for claims, annuities, and capital allocated under life insurance contracts has been delegated to the banks. Authority for all transfers for reinsurance, acceptance, and retrocession operations has also been delegated.
In matters concerning technical assistance, Moroccan enterprises may freely enter into technical assistance contracts with foreign partners and may transfer remunerations owed for this assistance through the intermediary of banks. In this connection, no limits are applied to remuneration rates or the total amount paid. The same applies to the transfer of the fees for the contracts for foreign films.
For travel operations, business travel expenses for exporters of goods and services are not subject to any limitation and may be settled without prior authorization by debiting convertible dirham accounts or foreign exchange accounts. For nonexporters, annual allowances granted by the Foreign Exchange Office can be renewed directly with banks. These allowances can be used for travel with no limit per trip, although within the limit of DH 2,000 a day.
Banks are authorized to grant economic operators not receiving annual allowances advances in the amount of DH 40,000 for small- and medium-scale enterprises, and of DH 20,000 for other socioprofessional categories. Of course, these amounts are advances rather than limits and may be increased on presentation of the appropriate supporting documentation. In addition, international credit cards may be issued freely to cover travel expenditure for exporters of goods and services and for all other holders of convertible dirham accounts or foreign exchange accounts, such as foreign nationals, individuals or corporations, Moroccan citizens living abroad, and international organizations. The issuance of such credit cards is beginning to expand to other economic operators.
For tourism and religious travel, the allowance, which was only DH 100 a year, and subsequently DH 1,000, was increased to DH 5,000 a year and can be secured directly from the banking system. An additional allowance of DH 1,500 is provided for minor children appearing on the applicant’s passport. In addition, travel agencies may freely organize tourist travel abroad on behalf of residents and may pay travel expenses directly using their available funds in convertible dirham or foreign exchange accounts. In matters concerning travel for academic purposes, exchange regulations now allow students to transfer tuition paid to foreign academic institutions freely and without limitation.
To cover subsistence expenses abroad, students receive a departure allowance equivalent to DH 10,000; students not receiving stipends may transfer DH 6,000 a month and those receiving stipends may transfer DH 4,000 a month, plus rent and related costs. For medical care abroad, banks are now authorized to transfer without limits expenses owed to foreign hospital institutions. In addition, the patient may obtain a departure allowance of DH 20,000 directly from the banking system for each trip.
The establishment of limits for travel operations, primarily allowances provided in the form of bank notes, is justified by the requirement to limit the aspect of such operations to current transactions. In any event, these limits are not fixed in stone; they are regularly re-evaluated and larger amounts can be obtained with proper justification.
There are no exchange controls on transfers of all types of revenue from investments, such as dividends, profits, allocated portions of profit, and interest on loans. These transfers are, therefore, free under the convertibility regime applicable to foreign investors and the liberalized external finance operations. For transfer payments, foreign residents, including foreign spouses of Moroccan citizens, are authorized in general to transfer 50 percent of their savings from income over and above contributions to retirement or social security funds abroad. Similarly, retirement pensions owed by Moroccan funds to nonresidents are freely transferrable.
Finally, authority for payments corresponding to other current account operations that cannot be classified in one of the above categories has also been delegated. These include payments for advertising; charges for subscriptions to foreign publications; translation; correspondence courses; purchases of technical and scientific books, works, and documentation; payments to foreign publishing houses for amounts owed by Moroccan shipping services; registration fees with academic institutions abroad and for competitive examinations for admission into the professional academies; fees for issuance of diplomas and participation in conferences, seminars, or internships abroad; payments, contributions, and fees owed to regional or international organizations; membership fees and dues to professional associations; fees for participation in regional or international sporting events; court costs and attorneys’ fees; family expenses and alimony; costs for the editing of films, acquisition or rental of films, documentaries, and televised programs; fees for foreign registration of patents and other trademarks, analysis and expert appraisal, and participation in competitive bidding abroad; and copyrights. All such fees, the remaining list of which is long, can be paid directly through the banking system without limit.
Capital Account Operations
Transfers for capital account operations, which can be carried out directly through banks without prior authorization involve the following:
(1) Proceeds from the liquidation or transfer of foreign investments in Morocco financed by foreign exchange or using other similar methods. The possibility of retransferring such funds involves the principal investment and capital gains, with no limits. Similarly, the investments involved have been made by foreign individuals or corporations, whether or not they are residents, or by Moroccan citizens living abroad. There is no difference in treatment in this regard.
(2) Amortization of external financing contracted by economic operators, directly or through the intermediary of the banking system. Such financing no longer requires prior authorization for obtaining the financing or for the repayment of principal and interest.
(3) Funds repatriated by foreign enterprises holding contracts in Morocco.
(4) Holdings in dirhams generated by the liquidation of movable or immovable property belonging to nonresident foreign nationals and not subject to the re transfer guarantee as provided by the old system. These assets, which were restricted in Morocco, may now be transferred on a staggered basis or spent in Morocco. Accordingly, any notion of restricted funds has been eliminated.
In addition, foreign tourists and Moroccan citizens living outside of Morocco may freely import and re-export any foreign means of payment (foreign bank notes, international credit cards, and so on.) Foreign bank notes surrendered by foreign tourists may be bought up to the total surrendered, upon presentation of the pertinent supporting documentation, regardless of the length of stay in Morocco.
With a view to simplifying the system of settlements between Morocco and foreign entities, and to maintaining the freely convertible nature of certain assets, Moroccan banks are also allowed to open foreign exchange accounts or convertible dirham accounts freely in the name of resident or nonresident foreign individuals or corporations.
Finally, the possibility of holding foreign exchange accounts, in addition to convertible dirham accounts, was extended to Moroccan nationals living abroad and to exporters of goods and services. Available funds in these accounts plus those in foreign nationals’ foreign exchange accounts will accordingly constitute a special reserve of foreign exchange assets not obligatorily transferrable to the central bank, Bank Al Maghrib, and which Moroccan banks may arbitrate among themselves, use to grant loans or advances among themselves, to finance foreign trade operations, to make placements with Bank Al Maghrib or with foreign correspondents. They may also use such funds to develop instruments for Moroccan operations to hedge against exchange risks.
This action makes it possible to lay the groundwork for a foreign exchange market in Morocco and to begin decentralizing the holding of foreign exchange accounts, which had been the monopoly of the central bank. The goal is to acquaint the banking system with international foreign exchange procedures with a view to preparing it for the establishment of the foreign exchange market and enable it to develop, for operators and particularly exporters, the full array of financial instruments that are available in the major international markets and are becoming important factors in international competitiveness.
Results of Liberalization of Exchange System
The question arises whether the liberalization measures implemented have made it possible to reach objectives that were not accessible while restrictions were in place, particularly as regards external equilibria and economic growth. In this connection, although Morocco’s acceptance of the obligations under Article VIII is quite recent and the analysis of the results should await a longer time perspective, the fact remains that this achievement can be seen as the crowning touch of the process of liberalization that began in 1983.
The effects of the process can be evaluated by examining Morocco’s external sector developments, and particularly those relating to foreign trade, tourism, transfers from Moroccan nationals living abroad, foreign investment, foreign exchange reserves, and external debt, in addition to the economic growth performance.
Imports
It was evident that imports would be affected by the liberalizing and opening of the economy. Actually, imports more than doubled from DH 25.6 billion in 1983 to DH 62.8 billion in 1992; however, the increased share of capital goods in the total, which reached 26.4 percent in 1993 against 18.9 percent in 1983, is noteworthy. Capital goods have, thus, become the most important group of imported goods. This development is indicative of the investment effort that both the public and private sectors have made over the past few years. The second most important group of products, semifinished goods, accounted for 22 percent in 1993, against 19.3 percent in 1983. These two groups of products now represent more than half of Morocco’s imports, compared with 38.3 percent in 1983. This is a positive development, insofar as such imports are connected with the investment effort.
Exports
Export promotion measures, the removal of prior approval procedures, and the establishment of facilities for financing export promotion expenditures abroad have all had clear positive effects on Moroccan sales abroad, which more than doubled between 1983 and 1992 from DH 15 billion to DH 34 billion. Concurrently, the structure of exports has been improving, with an increasing share of manufactured goods, which reached 64.3 percent in 1993 compared with 47.4 percent in 1983, with a commensurate decline in mining and agricultural products. The manufactured goods involve finished and semifinished goods, with new export products appearing over time, such as medicine and automobile spare parts.
Ratio of Exports to Imports
Despite a highly unfavorable external economic environment, aggravated domestically in some years by the negative effects of the drought, the ratio of exports to imports has oscillated around 60 percent. It had risen to 66.3 percent in 1987, peaked at 76 percent in 1988, and stabilized at approximately 60 percent between 1989 and 1991.
Tourism Receipts
Between 1983 and 1992, the number of tourists, not including Moroccans residing abroad, rose from 1,357,000 to 3,367,000, a 148 percent increase. During this period, tourism receipts more than quadrupled, rising from DH 2.9 billion ($0.4 billion) to DH 11.7 billion ($1.5 billion).
In this connection, it is noteworthy that foreign tourists are no longer required to declare the foreign exchange on their person when entering and leaving Morocco, and that the share of foreign bank notes in receipts has been continuously declining with a commensurate increase in bank transfers.
Receipts from Nationals Living Abroad
The measures taken in favor of Moroccan nationals residing abroad, particularly as regards their right to open convertible dirham accounts and foreign exchange accounts, receive initial departure allowances, and benefit from convertibility for investments financed in foreign exchange, contributed to nearly tripling the transfer by Moroccan nationals living abroad during the period 1983–92, from DH 6.5 billion to DH 18.5 billion ($2.2 billion).
Foreign Private Investment
During 1983–87, foreign private investment remained at between DH 600,000 and DH 800,000, or approximately $100,000. Since 1988, the measures to liberalize exchange controls, under which prior authorizations were eliminated and authority to transfer receipts from foreign investments was delegated to banks, had a significant impact on foreign investment flows into Morocco, which increased from DH 1.9 billion in 1989 to DH 3.3 billion in 1991. They reached DH 4.3 billion (more than $500,000) in 1992. In 1993, foreign investment is projected at approximately DH 6 billion (nearly $700,000), reflecting primarily the participation of foreign private groups in privatization operations.
Current Account Balance
The external current account deficit was cut in half during the period under review, from DH 5.41 billion in 1983 to DH 3.75 million in 1992. As a share of GDP, the decline was even more significant, from 6.5 percent in 1983 to 1.5 percent in 1992.
Debt Outstanding
Approximately twenty years ago, the overall outstanding external debt amounted to $1.2 billion, representing only 22 percent of GDP at that time. In 1983, the year the implementation of the structural adjustment programs began, the outstanding debt amounted to approximately $14 billion, equivalent to Morocco’s total GDP. After peaking at 123 percent of GDP in 1985, the ratio began to decline (despite the growth in outstanding debt). The outstanding external debt, which now amounts to $21.6 billion, represents currently only 74 percent of GDP.
Foreign Exchange Reserves
From negligible levels in 1983, Morocco’s foreign exchange reserves strengthened continuously during this period to reach DH 35 billion in 1993, equivalent to more than seven months of imports of goods, or more than five months of imports of goods and services. This result reflects the positive effects of the process of achieving a viable balance of payments position. In fact, without direct intervention from the public authorities, the changes in different components of the balance of payments were such as to generate an overall balance of payments surplus, as reflected in Morocco’s improved foreign exchange reserve position.
The improvement in the structure of the balance of payments is also noteworthy, with the current account deficit being financed entirely by foreign private investment flows in 1992. This will certainly be again the case in 1993.
Economic Growth
The Moroccan economy achieved an average annual growth rate of 3.5 percent during the period 1983–92. However, the growth rate, which amounted to 10.4 percent in 1988, 8.9 percent in 1986, and 6.3 percent in 1984, would have been even higher had the weather been more favorable. Nonetheless, the progress made has contributed to a diversification of production and exports, limiting somewhat the negative effects of the droughts that Morocco experienced.
Conclusion
Morocco’s future efforts will involve the consolidation of the external convertibility of the dirham and the establishment of a foreign exchange market. This will entail (1) the liberalization of certain capital operations for residents, primarily with regard to investments abroad; these investments are now authorized almost automatically, when they are within the framework of foreign investment in Morocco, particularly with regard to the fostering of exports of goods and services and the expansion of the Moroccan financial system abroad; and (2) the move in due course toward market determination of the exchange rate for the dirham, with the establishment of a foreign exchange market.
To conclude, the liberalization process, which has led to the current convertibility of the dirham, aims at improving Morocco’s chances of attracting foreign investment, promoting and diversifying production and exports, and achieving and maintaining a viable balance of payments position. The process, on the one hand, should foster the attainment of a sufficiently high growth rate for the Moroccan economy to meet the challenges of generating employment opportunities and improving the population’s standard of living and, on the other hand, should help in consolidating and strengthening the foundations of the economy sufficiently to envisage the establishment of full convertibility.
Director, Foreign Exchange Office, Morocco.