Sam Kaplan, the New US Ambassador to Morocco to be Appointed Shortly

Democratic fundraiser, is likely to become the U.S. ambassador to Morocco, according to Democratic sources . Sam Kaplan, a top fundraiser for President Obama's 2008 campaign finance committee, is now being vetted and is expected to be named to the ambassadorial post soon.
In addition to president Obama, Sam Kaplan has donated to several democratic candidates , including congressman Keith Ellison, soon to be senator Al Franken, as well to the Democratic national committee.

Another prominent Minnesotan in Washington is Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress who has traveled in the region to promote peace, since being elected to Congress in 2006. Sam Kaplan would be one of a small number of Jewish ambassadors who have been sent to the region. Mr. Kaplan, 72, would follow in the footsteps of another famous Minnesotan, former Vice President Walter Mondale, who was President Bill Clinton's ambassador to Japan.
Mr. Kaplan's appointment would be subject to confirmation by the U.S. Senate. His name has been circulated recently because government officials have reportedly been interviewing friends and associates in Minnesota.
Mr. Kaplan was Born in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1936. He went to college at the University of Minnesota, B.B.A., graduated in, 1957. He attended law school at University of Minnesota, J.D., magna cum laude, 1960

Morocco interest rate likely to stay at 3.25 pct -cbank

MARRAKECH, Morocco, May 29 (Reuters) - Morocco is likely to leave its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 3.25 percent at a meeting next month, Central Bank governor Abdellatif Jouahri said on Friday.

'We will meet in June to review Moroccan economic policy, but all the indicators say that we will keep it at 3.25,' he told reporters on the sidelines of a finance conference in the Moroccan city of Marrakech.

The central bank cut the benchmark rate from 3.5 to 3.25 percent in March, saying underlying inflation was falling and the outlook for the global economy was likely to worsen.

Economic growth in the north African kingdom slowed to 4.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008 from 5.4 percent in the third quarter and 6.5 percent in the second.

The slowing world economy is having a knock-on effect on exports, tourism, transfers of funds by Moroccans living abroad and foreign direct investment.

USA - Morocco Remittances Research Report

On March 2009, the 361 Degrees Institute conducted a survey on remittances from Moroccans residing in the USA to Morocco. The research contemplated barriers, trends, habits and opportunities that exist in regards to the money flow to Morocco from the United States. According to the World Bank, Moroccans Living Abroad sent remittances totaling 6.7 billion USD last year. In 2003, the last year for which data is available, Moroccans in the United States alone sent back a little over 200 million USD. This is a significant increase from 1990, when the reported 19,000 Moroccans living in the U.S. remitted 71 million dirham. These numbers represent the currency flowing through official channels such as bank accounts and money-transfer services, with the real total, including unreported gifts and money carried back or sent with others, likely much higher; Refass (1999: 102) has estimated that in the case of Morocco, between one quarter to one third of all remittances travel through these unofficial channels. Although academics have commonly predicted a decline in the amount of money flowing to Morocco, a still-unexplained remittance upsurge in 2001 has lead to historically high levels that have yet to drop, and remittances from the United States do not seem poised to decrease significantly in the near future. The impact of the global recession will be unpredictable, but the history of remittances to Morocco shows that generally, as Moroccan GDP decreases, remittances increase. This is significant for those living in Morocco during a dip in GDP, as the poverty-alleviation effects of remittances have been well established (see especially Page & Plaza 2005). In the results of this survey, four main methods emerged as the most widely used for transferring money: Western Union was reported to be the most popular company, with respondents’ personal banks and MoneyGram International being the next most widely used methods. Sending money with friends or family traveling back to Morocco was the fourth most frequent means of getting it back to Morocco, possibly reflecting respondents’ frustrations with the banking system, as noted many times in written comments returned with the surveys. In selecting one particular method over another, the speed of the fund transfer was the most important factor; with the amount fees involved being the second main issue. The security of the transaction and the ease with which the recipient could get the money were the other two most widely reported factors in choosing a method of sending. The biggest factors barring people from sending money more often to Morocco were, foremost, the currency exchange rates, followed by high fees and an inability to afford to send any additional money. Many also commented that the current banking system is too unreliable and sometimes slow, and that this lack of confidence in the banks encourages people to send back cash or use the black market. The frequency with which people send money to Morocco varies widely - 22% of respondents send money 2-3 times a year, an additional 16% between 4-5 times a year, and 19 percent 12 or more times a year. For most, it takes less than one day for money to travel from the USA to Morocco. Significantly, a full seven percent of respondents said that at times it can take a month or longer for money to get from the United States to its intended recipients in Morocco. It is this type of holdup that we hope to address with our research. Of those who sent money back, 80% reported that it was for a family member, whereas 20% reported that it was for themselves, generally either for savings (28%) or investment (28%) purposes, or for a loan (24%). Remittances are an extremely important source of income in Morocco, comprising an average of 9% of the country’s GDP every year since 2001. At the same time, the Moroccan American community is growing fast – up from almost 40,000 as reported in the 2000 census to anywhere from 150,000 to 300,000 today. Clearly, remittances from the United States to Morocco are becoming a more significant force every day, and will only increase in importance as more and more people settle here and begin to send money back to those still in Morocco. With this research, the 361 Degree Institute hopes to better understand the remaining concerns to be addressed in this increasingly significant issue and to work with the appropriate institutions to find innovative solutions.

U.A.E. Pulls Out of Gulf Monetary Union Project

The United Arab Emirates, the second largest Arab economy, has pulled out of the planned monetary union of oil-rich Gulf states, dealing a blow to their goal of establishing a European-style single currency.
“It’s like France saying it wants to pull out of the euro,” Eckart Woertz, an economist with the Dubai-based Gulf Research Center, said today in a telephone interview. “The single currency is dead.”
The U.A.E. has expressed reservations that Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh was chosen as the location of the planned common central bank. Saudi Arabia is the largest Arab economy.
The Gulf Cooperation Council in 2001 agreed to form a EU- style monetary union. Oman pulled out in 2007. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain are still part of the project.
U.A.E. central bank Governor Sultan bin Nasser al-Suwaidi said the country will keep the dirham’s peg to the dollar. All GCC currencies are pegged to the dollar except the Kuwait dinar which is linked to a basket of currencies.
“The U.A.E. has decided not to be part of the Gulf monetary union agreement,” a Foreign Ministry spokesman in Abu Dhabi was cited as saying by the state-run news agency WAM. “The U.A.E will continue to maintain its expansionary monetary policy and will keep the exchange rate of the dirham pegged to the dollar,” al-Suwaidi told WAM.
Central Bank
The U.A.E. offered in 2004 to host the common central bank, as it does not have any body affiliated with GCC on its territory, al-Suwaidi said.
“Emotions and egos are prevailing over rational decision- making and the U.A.E. is voicing its dissatisfaction by going against the union,” said John Sfakianakis, chief economist at the Saudi British Bank in Riyadh. “An important participant is now out. But it doesn’t mean the union is coming to an end, just some convincing has to be done to get them, the U.A.E, to re- enter. I hope they re-enter and emotions will not prevail.”
The U.A.E. officially notified the secretariat of the GCC of its decision to pull out, the Foreign Ministry spokesman said. Nasser al-Kaud, the GCC’s deputy assistant secretary- general for economic affairs, declined to comment.