The impact of financial inclusion on bank profitability in Morocco

Abstract

Since 2005, governments have been implementing strategies to develop the use of financial services, and to take advantage of the many benefits of financial inclusion.  As one of the main players in the development of financial inclusion, banks need to study the impact of financial inclusion on their profitability.

Indeed, the aim of our work is to study the impact of financial inclusion indicators on the profitability of Moroccan banks. To do this, we established a multiple linear regression, based on data from Moroccan banks covering the period from 2004 to 2021.

The results of this work show, that FI has a positive impact on the profitability of Moroccan banks, as expressed by ROE, from the point of view of the outstanding loans indicator.

We also found that FI is neutral in regard with bank profitability, expressed by ROE, from the point of view of the number of bank branches and outstanding deposits. Furthermore, the number of ATMs has a negative impact on bank profitability, also expressed in terms of ROE. The study also shows that economic growth has a positive impact on the profitability of Moroccan banks.

Keywords : Inclusion financière, profitabilité des banques, indicateur d’inclusion financière, retour sur capitaux, rentabilité économique.

JEL Classification : M40

Type du papier : Recherche empirique