Morocco maintains a system of foreign exchange controls managed by the Foreign
Exchange Office (Office des Changes), but the rules on transfers have been
progressively liberalized to the point where the dirham is freely convertible according to
the IMF definition for current account transactions. The value of the dirham is tied to a
basket of hard currencies weighted according to Morocco’s foreign trade. Because this
basket is dominated by the Euro, variations in the dollar/euro rates are generally
reflected in the dirham’s dollar value.
Authority to buy and sell foreign exchange has been delegated to the banking system,
which will carry out transactions on presentation of appropriate documentation justifying
the transaction such as an invoice to pay for imports. Capital transactions require
authorization from the Foreign Exchange Office and are routinely granted for businessrelated transactions. Under the Moroccan investment code, the government guarantees
repatriation of both invested capital and profits, provided that the initial capital
investment was filed and registered.