{"id":4849,"date":"2011-10-04T18:37:01","date_gmt":"2011-10-04T17:37:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.femise.org\/?p=4849"},"modified":"2014-10-01T12:38:38","modified_gmt":"2014-10-01T11:38:38","slug":"les-systemes-bancaires-ont-besoin-de-se-diversifier-davantage-pour-assurer-la-croissance-apres-le-printemps-arabe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.femise.org\/en\/articles-en\/les-systemes-bancaires-ont-besoin-de-se-diversifier-davantage-pour-assurer-la-croissance-apres-le-printemps-arabe\/","title":{"rendered":"Banking systems need to further diversify to ensure growth after the Arab Spring"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"photobanque-sept2011\"<\/a>Since the early 2000s, technological advances in southern Mediterranean countries have contributed to improvements in the banking system. However, State interference in banking institutions and corruption is hindering their effectiveness. There is still great room for improvement.<\/p>\n

While Western banking systems are under the spotlight and their supremacy is being challenged, the Euro-Mediterranean Forum of Economic Institutes (FEMISE) has just published a comprehensive study (FEM33-04<\/a>) of four banking systems in southern Mediterranean countries:\u00a0 Morocco, Egypt, Algeria and Tunisia.<\/p>\n

Entitled \u201cConvergence of Banking Regulations in the Southern Mediterranean:\u00a0 Impact of banking sector performance on growth\u201d, <\/em>this study reveals that Morocco is, by far, the country with the best banking system, with 6% of bad debt (in 2008), whereas this same rate fluctuates between 12 and 15% in the other countries.\u00a0These percentages are still too high compared to the 3% observed in Europe!<\/p>\n

Morocco has also distinguished itself over the years with an effort to privatise the banking system and by equipping itself with credit information systems.\u00a0 The introduction of credible deposit insurance and applying the Basel Norms have also played a decisive role in the economic development of the country and the arrival of foreign banks.<\/p>\n

More rigour and transparency in financial transactions<\/strong><\/h5>\n

\u201cThe Moroccan banking system has diversified but has not yet reached an optimal situation for development.\u00a0 Morocco must continue its efforts\u201d, said Rym Ayadi, Head of the Research Unit on Financial Institutions and Prudential Policy at CEPS, who led the FEMISE study.<\/em><\/p>\n

In contrast, the Algerian banking system, which is under State control, appears plagued by corruption and a lack of transparency in financial transactions.\u00a0 In Tunisia, during the reign of Ben Ali, significant funds were privately contracted.\u00a0 Were they paid back or bonded?\u00a0 Unlikely.\u00a0 In 2003 the rate of bad debt still accounted for one third of the banking sector (24.2% and 17.6% in 2007).\u00a0 \u201cWe observed failings in the internal control systems and far too much cronyism\u201d,<\/em> said Rym Ayadi.<\/p>\n

The new democratic governments, much longed for by the initiators of the Arab Spring could, in this sense, introduce more rigour and transparency in financial transactions.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstitutional variables determine economic development.\u00a0 These developing countries must continue their efforts in favour of an integrated approach between macroeconomic policy, (monetary policy), taxation and financial systems\u201d, added <\/em>Rym Ayadi, who, through this study, has demonstrated that an efficient, well-regulated banking sector has a positive impact on growth.<\/p>\n

To do this, the public sector must disengage from financial institutions and set up truly independent banking supervisory authorities.<\/p>\n

Photo: F. Debussy, Econostrum<\/em><\/p>\n

Article by Nathalie Bureau du Colombier, Econostrum. It belongs to a series of articles published in the context of the partnership between Econostrum and Femise for the year 2011. These articles also feed the \u201cGrand Angle\u201d part of the Econostrum Website. You can find this topic and all information at the following address:\u00a0www.econostrum.info<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0Registration for the Econostrum newsletter is available here: http:\/\/www.econostrum.info\/subscription\/<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Since the early 2000s, technological advances in southern Mediterranean countries […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.femise.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4849"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.femise.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.femise.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.femise.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.femise.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4849"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.femise.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4849\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5304,"href":"https:\/\/www.femise.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4849\/revisions\/5304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.femise.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.femise.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.femise.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}