Sharia banking products announced in Morocco

Morocco's central bank (Bank Al Maghrib) on Tuesday unveiled a set of Sharia -(Islamic law) compliant banking products in order to bring banking services to a wider customer base.

Lenders will offer leasing (Ijara) products, whereby they rent an asset to a customer who may later be able to buy it at a fixed date.

Moucharaka products will involve lenders taking shares as partners in a company's equity while Mourabaha will allow a lender to buy an asset and re-sell it to a client at a margin decided in advance.

Lending companies will market these products via their subsidies. These services are regulated by "the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions", a Bahrain-based organization that includes 130 members from 29 countries.

Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news