Banks operating in the country allocated financing for a total amount of 5.8 billion dirhams for individuals during the past February, which brought the total amount allocated by them at the end of the month to 501 billion dirhams compared to 495.2 billion dirhams at the end of January, indicating a monthly growth of 1.2%. According to data released by the Central Bank yesterday, financing of the commercial and industrial sectors at the end of February amounted to 857.6 billion dirhams compared to 853.9 billion dirhams at the end of the previous January, indicating a monthly increase of 3.7 billion dirhams or 0.4%. Banks focused on allocating funds to individuals, providing them with 5.8 billion dirhams during February, while a total of 3.7 billion dirhams was allocated to the commercial and industrial sector. Total bank investments in obligations, equities, and other types of investments at the end of February amounted to 758.5 billion dirhams compared to 742.9 billion dirhams at the end of January, indicating an increase of 15.6 billion dirhams or 2.1%. Overall financial transfers made through the Central Bank during the first two months of the current year amounted to 3.4 trillion dirhams, of which 2.093 trillion were between banks and 1.327 trillion between clients. The total amount of checks processed using their digital copies in January and February amounted to 234.6 billion dirhams on 3.8 million checks, while this volume withdrawn from the Central Bank for the month amounted to 41 billion dirhams, and deposits totaled 31 billion dirhams. The Central Bank announced last night before the meeting that it leaves the basic interest rate at 4.40%, noting that this decision was made in line with the Federal Reserve's announcement to maintain the interest rate on reserves unchanged at its meeting held yesterday.
