Announcement of Ten Million US Dollars Loan for Tourist Hotels in Morocco on August 12, 1970

; . INTERNATIONAL BANK FOR C RECONSTRUCT[O~~ ,L\ND DEVELOPMENT 1818 H STREET, N.W., WASHINGTON D. C. 20433 TELEPHONE: EXECUTIVE 3-6360 Bank Press Retease No.·' 70/54 Subject: $10 million loan for tourist August 12, 1970 ',~ hotels in Morocco A World Bank loan of $10 mill1on will assist in financing construction, ex- pansion and mode,~nizatton of tourist hotels in Morocco. Tourism, now Morocco's leading source of foreign exchange earnings, has been givei1 high" priority in the \\:"_ >- f Government' Ei econ.om.ic development plans. More hotel space is a prime requisite for this ra1~idly grow1_ng and important. sector, ~and the Bank loan will provide most' 0 - of the-foreign exchange needed for hote~. inve~tment through.mid-1971. The loan will be made to Credit lmmobilier et Hotelier (CIH), the chosen • instrument of the Moroccan Government for financing hotels, and will be guaran- teed by the Kingdom of Morocco. 2\ years of grace, with interest at 7%. It will be for a term of 18 years, including With Morocco's 1,200-mile coastline, good climate, proximity to Europe, and wealth of natural, historical and cultural attractions, the tourist industry is expected to continue to expand. Between 1963 and 1969 the number of tourists visiting Morocco annually almost doubled to reach a total of 716,000. This figure (\ !, is expected to reach approximately one million in 197~., There is a special need f) for well-located, reasonably-priced hotels to accommodate the expected European m,1J,~S tourist traffic. CIH, created nearly 50 years ago to finance housing, started hotel financi~g in a major way about four years ago. Since then it has financed through loans t~ I private and public c~panies about 52% of Mo,,rocco's total hotel investment. Hotel • fin.ancing now accounts for the bulk of CIH 1 s financial commitments. CIH has /more Bault P,,P... No. 70/54 - Morocco-Tour:f.st Hotels u - 2 - received indirectly some World Bank funds for hotels by borrowing from the Banque • Nationale pour le Developpement Economique (BNDE), which has been the beneficiary of World Bank loans totaling $62.5 millio~. As a result of advice and assistance ~. J ' from the World Bank in connection with its borrowings from BNDE, CIH has strength- ened its organization and staff and improved operations. cm• s progr~;-· ""411s for the financing of 30-35 hotels having altogether about \ ~, i __ ___.....,.~' 10,000 beds from mid-1970 to the end of 1971, requJring a total- investment of 127 million dirhame ($27 .4 million). The Bank loan of $10 mil-l-cl~n will be applied to the c<:>st of imports t.J;irough mid-1971, and CIH will obtain the locat curren~y r~q,.tirements .from its own resources and local borrowings. • - 0 - I.I •