Bank Al-Maghrib (BAM) has completed a first experimental phase showing that it is technically possible to offer a digital dirham to individuals, Le Nouvelliste reports. The tests were carried out with support from the IMF and the World Bank. The central bank has not announced a launch date, and the article stresses that the result does not signal an imminent release.
Three BAM researchers, Chaymae Chaoui, Kamal Lahlou and Mohammed Mikou, wrote a study on options for a digital currency issued directly by the central bank. The prototype successfully tested creating, distributing and storing digital money in e-wallets, and payments between individuals. Both centralized and distributed architectures could work with existing payment platforms. Cybersecurity, data privacy, regulation and infrastructure resilience remain decisive.
Under the proposed model, BAM would keep control of issuance, while commercial banks and payment institutions would handle distribution and user services.
Safeguards under consideration include no initial interest, limits on holdings and transfers, and parity of one to one with physical dirhams. Offline payments are also being studied. Simulations suggest mainly payment-focused use would have limited effects on banks, but mass transfers of deposits into digital wallets could weaken their funding, so the authors favor gradual adoption.
The context is a cash-heavy economy. Cash in circulation exceeded 500 billion dirhams in 2025, up from 70 billion in 2001, and only 62% of residents had a bank account. A second experiment with Egypt’s central bank, backed by the World Bank, is studying digital currencies for cross-border settlements; remittances averaged about 8% of GDP in recent years.
Morocco would need to upgrade fiber, mobile coverage, data storage and cybersecurity, in line with its Digital Morocco 2030 strategy, and define the currency’s legal status. The digital dirham is meant to complement cash and existing payment tools, not replace them.